Society of Elite Assassins
by TokyoLyn
Summary: "The S.E.A. wants you back." The normal life Ritsu wants is in jeopardy when a man from his past comes to see him with a job offer. What was the real reason Ritsu went to England and why is he still so against loving Takano? Do not own SIH.
1. Prologue

"Who is Saga-Senpai?"

"Saga…Senpai…" The man in the black suit looked down at the lie detector and then pressed a button. An electric shock made Ritsu feel as if he was being burned alive. "Please…no…more." Ritsu cried, getting louder as another shock was sent through his body. "PLEASE."

"Let this be the lesson Oda. To survive you must follow our rules and that includes the most important one of them all." Another shock had Ritsu screaming. "STOP PLEASE."

The man pushed up his glasses. "Then give me the right answer. Who is Saga-Senpai?"

"No one…he's no one."

"Your heart says something else. The heart will give you away Oda and it is our job to change this. In this line of business love is worthless. Repeat Oda."

"L...Love…love is worthless." He choked out. Another shock.

"That's right. Love is weakness. Love will get you killed. Repeat."

"Love...is...weakness." Another shock. "Love will…get…you…killlllleeeedd."

"Remember that Oda." His finger stayed on the button. Ritsu could barely comprehend as he shook in his chair. All he could see was the bright light from the lamp above. "So, who is Saga-Senpai?"

Ritsu slumped down when the shocks stopped. His body felt numb; his mind blank. All he could hear were his shallow breaths. "Oda. Who is Saga-Senpai?" Glancing at the lie detector he saw Ritsu's heart was steady, if not slower. Still no answer. "Oda."

Picking up his head, Ritsu's eyes were hollow, looking behind the man rather than at him.

"Who?"


	2. Chapter 1: Li

"Onodera! Where's your manuscript!"

"Here, here." RI yelled, giving the stack of paper to my demon of a boss. With the cycle ending all I was thingk about was the long night's rest I needed, which was the only thing getting me through the day. If I fell asleep now then I would definitely get scolded by Takano again and my pride could not let that happen.

Hearing my phone rang he answered, "Marukawa Publishing, Emerald Department. Onodera speak…" I was interrupted by yelling from the publishing company. This is hell.

"Good work today." Hatori exhaled with an exhausted sigh as he, Mino, and Kisa left. "Good work." I called after, packing my things. We got everything to the printers and now this cycle had finally finished.

"You hungry for anything specific? We'll have to go to the store but it will be better than the leftover soup in my fridge." Takano said besides me. "Your thoughts?"

I narrowed my eyes. "I just want to sleep." Takano mimicked me though his face was much scarier. "You need to eat and I know you have not since yesterday." I wanted to retaliate when Iremembered that I was with Takano last night and instead blushed. "So?"

Takano smirked but before he could say something Yokozawa appeared. "Takano, I need to talk to you about something." While I do not feel hostility towards Yokozawa and respected him, I still could not shake the pang of anger I feel when I see him with Takano.

Yokozawa was also not so cold to me but it's not like I would be comfortable being alone with him. "I'll head out then." Ha. Lucked out! No awkward filled silence while walking home with Takano.

Takano gave me an annoyed look but let me go. **Maybe I can avoid Takano long enough to finally be able to sleep in my bed tonight.**

Getting out of the elevator I took out my phone to check the time when it went off. Checking it I saw it was from an unknown number **. Who could this be?** "Hello?"

 _"It's been a while."_ I froze, having stopped walking. _"I thought you died."_

"What do you want?" I growled, my body growing stiff. **How did he get my number? Why is he calling me?** _"Ouch. No warm welcoming."_

"What do you want?"

The man snickered. _"I expected this. I'll just get down to business then. I want to meet."_

I could hear some coworkers chatting, remembering I was not alone, and started walking outside, scoffing into the phone. "There's no reason for such."

 _"Now, now, don't be so harsh. It's been what? Two years? I figured you would want to see an old friend."_

"You don't even know what that word means."

 _"You're not making this any easier Oda. But since I have known you for quite a while, I feel I have the right to call you by your first name. Right Ritsu?"_ "Don't say my name." **Why did I have to tell him?**

The man laughed but did not answer which started to piss me off. "Fuck off Li. I don't want to hear your voice."

 _"Too bad Oda so here's the deal. I am in Tokyo so unless you don't want me to dig more into this pathetic life you are trying to live, you will meet me downtown in about 10 minutes at the address I'll text you."_ I went to open my mouth but Li hung up. I pulled the phone away from my ear and squeezed it. **How dare he come back in my life?** It has been two years since I had any sort of contact with that side. The month resignation was still fresh in my mind. There should be no reason for Li to contact me and how the hell did he get my number? It has been changed three times since then. My phone beeped again and I saw the address to a park close by. **Why the hell is Li even in Tokyo?** He kept saying he wanted to be transferred to his hometown of Beijing.

I sighed; I really wanted to ignore this but there's the chance Li could start looking into my life now and I did not want that. **Damn him.** I started walking again, not hearing anything but my knuckles cracking.


	3. Chapter 2: Job Offer

I got to the park with two minutes to spare. No one was walking around which was kind of expected at 11 at night. Damn I needed sleep. Seeing a bench, I took a moment to rest up from the grueling hours Takano made me do. Not my fault one of my authors had the flu. "I've never seen you this tired Oda."

I made no movement, just turned my head slightly to the left at the figure walking closer. "I had a long week." The man sat down next to me and I had to scoff. "Still look the same Li."

Li was at least a foot taller than me with long, spiky jet black hair with his bangs covering the black headband around his forehead and his eyes were narrowed and a yellowish-green color. He still had that prideful smirk on his face and was wearing a business suit. It looked weird on him. He slumped back against the bench and looked back at me, putting his hands in his pocket. "Unlike you I do not like change. Did you lose weight?"

"Why did you call me?" I did not want to simply chat.

"And here I thought you would be a little bit happy to see me." Li sat up. "Since you're asking, I got a few jobs that I think are perfect for you."

"That's a stupid thought. I already went through the resigning period and you know the rules." He's testing my limits.

"S.E.A. is starting to go down." I tensed at the name. "The American government has started investigating the branch in England after the death of one of their politicians. We all should have went to Beijing but the Heads decided to split us up. Now I work with the Tokyo branch. Sucks too. I really wanted to go back home but they do consider me the best and Tokyo is the best."

"I still don't see why you had to call me out of the blue two years later to tell me all this? I am done with the S.E.A."

He laughed. "Oh Oda. No one is ever done with S.E.A." He looked me up and down. Kind of creepy-like too. "You seem too relaxed."

I shrugged. "If you're going to kill me then go ahead. I have no weapon to defend myself and I'm too tired to fight." Li laughed even louder now. "You still crack me up Oda. I'm so glad you didn't change. Don't worry, I'm only here asking if you want to take a few jobs for old times."

"And I said no. If that is all then I see no reason to stay." As I went to get up I was stopped as Li grabbed my hand. "What?"

Li smirked. "Oda. Or should I say, Onodera." I gasped. **How did he know my last name?** "That's right. I found out your true name. I even know that is your father who is one of the leaders of S.E.A. To think he made his own son an assassin. Kind of sad."

"How did you find that out?"

"At the Tokyo branch I noticed your father walking around and found his name was Onodera. Looking him up I found your photo and fit the pieces together." It was no surprise father did not take precautions. At the S.E.A. it did not matter what information you could find because everyone was too afraid to go against the Heads unless they want to disappear. The only thing truly hidden were the assassins.

"It's been two years Li. I don't see why you are bringing all of this up now? Just because the S.E.A. is being looked into has nothing to do with me. Neither does the fact that it is my father who is one of the leaders."

"I wasn't in Tokyo for the past two years so when I got here I started thinking how great of a team we were and being in the same city as you I just had to find you." Li turned his body. "Why did you leave Ritsu? You never said anything and I could not see you that last month."

I shrugged again. It was useless thinking of the past. "I had my reasons." The guilt. The shame. The _numbness._ "And I will not go back." I stood up. "If you have nothing else to say I'm leaving."

Li stood up as well. "So I can't even threaten you with your name?"

"Are you sure you should be using that as a tactic, _Liang_?" Li smirked. "I still see that chaos in your eyes. It's what drew me to you. You were the best assassin we had, makes sense with a Head as your father."

That did it. I glared. "My father has nothing to do with what I was."I turned away. "Lose my number." With that I left, angry and frustrated. My work as an assassin had nothing to do with that man. I was better off without him. That man who sold my soul to this company and now acts as if he does not care about me since I quit.

I hated him.


	4. Flashback 1: Meet Li

It was dark when we walked through the long hall; the only light coming from the small lights on the wall. "Today we are going to assign you a partner." The Doctor announced.

"Partner?" He never said anything about a partner.

"Well we can't just throw you out into work with just the weapons training given to you. Now partners are not permamnent and there will be times you will take missions by yourself or with others but they can be a good sort of comraderie to have."

 **Comraderie?** It sounded so foreign from him. "Who is it?"

"Codename Li. Recruited from Beijing. He has been an assassin for about three years now and is one of our best." We entered a large room with a table and chairs that I remembered these types of rooms when I went with my dad to his meetings. No one was there. The Doctor let me sit down. "Now, as you know the importance of codenames for assassins so it is important you tell no one any personal information. From here on you will only be known as Oda. That is the name you chose?" I nodded. "This is very important for you that you keep your family ties to S.E.A. hidden. You understand Oda?"

"Yes."

"Good." There was a knock on the door a few seconds later. "Enter."

In came a tall man with long, shaggy black hair in a trenchcoat and brown clothing. It was an ugly color and I wondered if he got hot in it. His eyes were brown and had a hooded shape to them with thin eyebrows. He came in smiling, which I hated. His smile looked almost evil. It was like he was planning something with that smile. "Good evening Doctor." His voice was rough, his accent coming out as he spoke English. "I'm guessing this is my new partner."

"Li, this is Oda, our new assassin."

"Assassin huh?" Li looked me up and down. It was making me uncomfortable but I did not say anything. Just glared. "Looks more like a lost puppy." **Lost puppy?!**

"I assure you Oda is more than capable. Who knows," he looked back at me. "He may be even better than you."

Li scoffed. "We'll see."

The Doctor headed for the door. "I'll let you two get acquainted and then Li can show you back to your room. Do not forget our 3 o' clock meeting next Wednesday Oda." I did not reply and he left.

"Still caught up in the past?" Li asked after a moment of silence. "Must not have been an orphan. It only took a week until I passed his "meetings." How long since you started?"

"About a month." It started with sessions once a day until last week when I apparently answered one question the right way. They were asking about someone I did not know who. He did say next week was going to be my last session with the electric shocks.

Li sat next to me, putting his feet on the table and leaned back. "You gotta let go of the past, if by some miracle you still remember. Assassins only need to know how to kill and how not to get caught."

"I heard all of that before." His hand started messing with my hair. "Stop it." I swatted it away.

"You should get a different haircut. You look too cute with this one and it makes you seem so innocent. You should let me cut it." He reached for it again but I moved away.

"Leave it alone. I don't need to cute my hair if I don't want to." I growled.

He smirked. "You're a little firecracker."

"And you are in my space."

"First rule: space means nothing to assassins. I'll teach you everything newbie."

"I'm sooo excited." **This guy was going to piss me off.** He chuckled. "You really are cute."

"Stop calling me cute."

"Hot?"

"Shut up."

"Sexy?"

"I said be quiet!"

"Fuckable?"

"ARGH YOU ARE GIVING ME A HEADACHE!" I stood up and stomped to the door. "Stupid pervert." Reaching for the handle I was pushed up against it. "HEY!" I looked behind to see Li smiling down at me with that devilish smile. His hands were on my back until he replaced it with his whole body. His mouth next to my ear. "I can see you as a hot, sexy, fuckable uke."

"Uke? What the fuck? You reading BL novels or something?"

"We all have to have some hobby in this business." He bit my ear roughly and I cried in pain. What was strange was the minute he bit me while I felt the pain, there was a sense of pleasure. He bit down more and instead of crying I moaned. "Does someone find that feeling good?"

"You piss me off." He pulled back, laughing. "You should see your face." He pissed me off. "Well, let's get you to your room. Unless you want to come to mine?"

"I am going back to MINE." I stomped out the room but he was close behind. "Rule two: Don't get too sensitive Oda. Loosen up a bit."

"Go fuck yourself." I was pulled back. "Join me? My little uke."

 **HE PISSES ME OFF.**


	5. Chapter 3: Ride Along

Getting home I was surprised to see Takano not outside waiting. **Guess he went to bed** _._ Sighing with relief, I carefully opened the door. It was close to 4 in the morning and if Takano found out it would turn into an ugly conversation. Not fun

Taking a shower help calm me down. The heat the only thing lifting me up. That is until I saw my messy apartment. **I'll clean it tomorrow…maybe…** I fell face first into bed and fell asleep.

Waking up the next morning I almost forgot what happened the night before until my phone notified me of a message from Li. _We'll be seeing each other again soon._

 **Idiot.** I got up to get something to eat, throwing my phone on the table as I went to the kitchen. **I really need to go shopping.** I sighed as I looked in my fridge. There was some bread that was surprisingly still good and decided to make toast. As I ate my phone started going off.

The third time pressing cancel I got fed up and answered it. "What do you want?"

 _"Good morning, ready to work?"_

"Leave me the fuck alone." **Can't this guy take a hint?**

 _"Or what? Going to get daddy into this?"_

"If I have to." There. Father practically owned the assassin division.

 _"As if."_ Huh? Why did he not sound threatened by that? _"Come on Oda, just one job."_ Hearing him use that name was weird, especially when I remembered where I got it from. "No."

I got silent and I thought he was done harassing me. _"What's Marukawa?"_ I sat up. _"Working as a Shoujo Editor? That sound incredibly boring."_

"How do you know that?"

 _"When I get research I do not miss anything. I know about you job, your coworkers, even the head of Marukawa. And you know I am capable of taking any of them out."_

"Is that a threat?" _"A promise_." I went quiet this time. Li would not do anything to harm my coworkers…but then again he is an assassin, you can't tell what he is thinking. _"All I'm doing is taking out a group of policemen. The task force won't do nothing about it so we were called in."_

"That's not big. You can do it yourself."

 _"What if you just come watch?"_

"Why are you pushing this?"

 _"I told you I missed you. Can't we hang out like the old days?"_ I did not reply. _"Come on Oda. I am outside your apartment building now so I can always come up to your door or maybe the door of your boss next door."_ Gaspng, I jumped up and quickly ran to my room, grabbing whatever I could get my hands on. "You stay down there. I'll be down in 10 minutes."

 _"That's the spirit."_ **He has some nerve.** I did not want to spend my morning dealing with this. A now my stomach just growled because that toast did not fill me up. Damnit. Li was downstairs like he said. His attire was casual, wearing jeans and a long jacket. In his hand was a coffee. "Good morning Oda. Thought you might be thirsty." **How caring, hint the sarcasm.** I snatched it from him and took a sip, not caring whether he poisoned it or not. "Needs sugar."

"You used to like it black."

"Can we get this over with? I got the weekend off and I had planned to spend it in bed."

"Well I am glad your personality never changed but did you get more sarcastic?" **That would be thanks to a certain boss.** "Well let's get going. We have to do this by 12." I followed himto a black car and we drove out. "Where are we going?"

"Narita." Li handed me a manila folder and I pulled out files on four men. "The four part of a local gang and provides them weapons. The police don't have enough evidence to convict them and, to be honest, I think the police do not want to single out some of their own."

"And what better way to just kill them off to not make such a big deal."

"Bingo."

"So how are you going to kill them?" Li smirked and pointed to the back. On the back seats were an array of knives in an open briefcase. "We never use guns. Don't you remember?"

"I figured that would change." I glanced more at the knives, memories coming back. "You can touch them."

I quickly pulled away, shaking my head. "I haven't touched a knife in two years." Li tsked and it was quiet for what seemed like an hour. "Here we are." Li announced as he pulled into a garage parking lot. "Now is when we work." He reached back and grabbed two short knives and handed me some binoculars. "You can be my lookout. The four should be arriving any minute."

"I will have no part." I threw them back. "Getting mixed up in any way will be against the rules. I have been kidnapped."

"I'm a good kidnapper to bring you coffee then." He placed the binoculars in the middle console.

"Without sugar." While we sat in the car I kept glancing down at my phone, surprised it never went off with Takano wondering where I was or why I wasn't answering my door. Usually on weekends he would try to hang out unless he was tired or giving me space. "You expecting someone?" Li asked.

"No." I sat up straight and looked away. I could feel Li's eyes on me. "Hey Oda, did you find someone?"

"No. Don't be stupid." **Like hell I would tell him about Takano.**

Li smiled. "Good." He turned back. "Showtime."

Sure enough, two police cars pulled in and four men got out of the cars. They were smiling, laughing with each other. "Make sure no one else comes." Li got out of the car and stalked towards the men. Well this was boring. I watched, unamused as Li snuck up and stabbed all four guys in the throat. **Some police. Could not even put up any type of fight.** I looked over to see Li motioning to me to come out. **What now?**

Blood was pouring out of the bodies and I could smell the rusty scent begin to fill the air. "Remind you of anything?"

"Of why I left." One guy's eyes were still open and it was starting to creep me out. "Can we go? I'm sure S.E.A. will be here any minute."

"Already notified them." Li said as he put his phone back in his pocket. "Want to go eat?"

"I'd rather you take me home." Li pouted. It looked stupid. "I told you I wanted to sleep."

"We used to go two days without sleep on difficult missions. You used to never get tired."

"So? That was a long time ago. You have to realize people change. Now take me back." Without waiting for a reply I got back in the car. Li frowned and got into the car, driving away. I could smell the blood and looked at the knives and then his hand. "Are you going to wash your hands?"

"Can I at your place?"

"Yeah right." I looked out the window as he got on the freeway. All I wanted was for Li to drop me off and leave me alone. That was not my life anymore and I do not want to go back. I could hear him chuckling under his breath and after five minutes it was getting on my nerves. "What's so fu—LI!" His hand grabbed my cock through my jeans and squeezed it tightly. "WHAT THE HELL?" I grabbed his hand and pushed it away.

Li laughed. "Are you still a masochist?"

I glared daggers at him. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SPOUTING AT?"

He still was laughing. "You know it's true. All the times we had sex you loved the pain. That's why you will always be a uke according to BL books."

 **Why did he have to bring that up?** "Just shut up about that."

"Is Oda actually feeling shy?" Li snickered. "That's new."

I'll kill him.


	6. Flashback 2: The First Time

**WARNING: HEAVY LEMON (and not TakanoxRitsu I am afraid)**

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Blood. All on the floor was blood. My clothes and hands had stains of blood. In my hands were two small knives, pocket-sized, covered in blood. Around me there were six men and one women, dead. Three of them had their throats cuts, two with multiple stabs in the stomach and chest, and two stabbed in the head. I was breathing heavily, the adrenaline still in my system.

This got out of hand. It was my first solo mission; after 10 missions with Li, Doctor thought I was ready to go out. It was to kill one man who was part of some gang. I got to this man's apartment when I found out he had six others there and they all started to attack me. They managed to deliver a few punches but I killed them before they got out their guns.

It was different though. When I was with Li it was nothing, no emotion. When I saw the guns I could feel death in my body, it moved on its own. Next thing they were all dead.

I pulled my phone out and texted the branch to send someone to clean up. I left, not bothering to clean the blood off my hands until I got back to my apartment they gave me three months ago when I turned 17. They thought I was able to be on my own.

Well. Almost.

"You're coming in late." I looked out the window to the building next door where Li was sitting next to his window. He was too close. If he jumped from his window he could get into mine. "How'd it go?"

"Fine." I went to my sink to wash my hands. "It was just like any other job."

"You don't look so good." I did not answer. "That feeling of fear will pass. After a few month the fear of dying will pass and you will not even care anymore about if you die or not." At least that was a good thing about Li. As annoying and perverted he is, he understood more about what I was going through now as a new assassin. It did not matter that he obviously knew I come from a rich family and he once told me he was an orphan. We both were being trained to be the best killers for the government.

"You're right." I walked into my bedroom to change and came out to see him in my living room on the phone. "At least ask before you jump into my room." Li did not answer and put the phone down. _"Oda is there?"_ I was taken back when I heard my father.

"Uh yes sir."

 _"Well done today. Our reports say you killed all seven in less than 30 seconds and this was your first solo mission. Taking into account your missions with Li, you are progressing quite marvelously and it has not even been a year."_

 **So this will be the only time I hear a praise from the guy?** "Thank you sir."

 _"Make sure to debrief tomorrow. That is all."_ He hung up and for the first time I could breathe. "Wow, for a Head to call and compliment you. That's big."

"I don't care." Why would I? A year ago I did not even know my dad was involved in such. All the meetings I been to I thought it was for his publishing company.

Li was eyeing me suspiciously before shrugging. "Sure then." I sat next to him and yawned. "Are you tired?"

"I don't know."

"That's not a good answer." He scooted closer so our legs were touching and put his arm around me. "Come on Oda, don't be so mean."

"You're too close."

Li smiled. "Oda, I found out your problem." Oh this gotta be good. "You need to get laid."

"What?" I gave him a blank stare. I know he was perverted but this may be the stupidest thing he ever said. He was still smiling. "You heard me. You. Need. To get. Laid."

I closed my eyes. If I did not calm down I was going to kill him. "I am going to pretend I did not hear that."

"Ah come on. I think this attitude you have is just because you are too pent up. Are you still a virgin?"

"Don't say those stuff."

"Is that a yes?"

"No!" He looked surprised. "Oh my Oda. This does not complete your image at all. Was she good?" I looked away. I knew it was not a girl I had sex with, even if I could not remember the name of the boy. Those shocks erased any memory of him. I do remember the heartbreak but I just use that feeling to fuel the 'no love' rule. "Was she?"

"It wasn't a she." I mumbled softly and watched his eyes get wider as he heard. He then smiled. "I knew you were an uke. Now _that_ fits your image perfectly." Annoying. "Makes so much sense." His arm around my shoulders pulled me into him and then got me laying on my couch with him on top. "GET OFF ME!"

"I told you, you need to get laid and I am curious about being a Seme." He held my shoulders down and I grabbed his arms. "This is a win-win for both of us."

"How is that? Quit playing games with me." He bent down to be inches away from my face and I had to turn away so he had no chance to kiss me. "Fine." He bit my neck, hard. My eyes clenched as I felt the pain but when my mouth opened it was a moan that came out. **Why do I feel like this when he bites me?**

"Masochist." I heard him snicker before he bit down again, making me moan. I could feel his hand moving down my body and into my pants. "You're quite big."

"Shut…up." I gasped as he pulled my cock out and started stroking it, pulling it roughly. So much pleasure came from that. Hearing him keep snickering, I looked up to see him looking at me with glazed eyes. "God. If I knew you looked like this Oda, I would have jumped you in the conference room."

He sat back up and looked down at my cock. Still holding it with one hand he unzipped his pants and pulled his own cock out. He was big, his erection obviously showing. "I saw this once in a book." He took both of our erections in his hand and rubbed them together. His grunts came out loud. "Shit." He kept cussing. "Oda."

"Li…I'm going to come…"I breathed out. He stopped everything and let go on my cock. It hit my stomach. "What?" He lifted my hips to line himself up with my hole. "I know you are supposed to prepare the uke but I have a feeling you would rather not."

He slammed into me; pain shooting through my body. No preparation. My first time again in about two years. I barely could breathe it was so painful. But I could not deny the amazing feeling that came with it and when he pulled out only to slam me again, I came with a cry. "I…told…you…" He grunted with each thrust. His hands went through my essence that laid on my stomach and smeared it all over. "You're going to come again Oda. I'll make sure."

"Then go fucking faster." I growled. My erection had grown once more and I wanted release. His signature devilish smile came back and he sped up the thrusts. **So close.** His hands went to the sides of my neck as we looked into each other's eyes.

He came first with a loud groan and feeling the heat inside me made me come again on my stomach. We both were panting. He pulled out to sit back and I sat up, glancing down and scowling. "Your cum is going to ruin my couch." I grabbed my shirt to clean up the mess.

"I was not the only one coming." He chuckled.

"Whatever. And don't cum in me, it's gross." Once we were cleaned up I put back on the sweats I wore and he sat still naked. "Put on some damn clothes." I leaned back on the couch, feeling refreshed. He laughed as he put on his own pants but not a shirt. "Why do you keep laughing?"

"A thought popped into my head and it was funny."

"And what was it?"

"Do you love me?" I narrowed my eyes at his smile. "Well?"

"Are you stupid?"

He shrugged. "It's a simple question. All I did was fuck you as an experiment. Just want to make sure there is nothing there for you."

I scoffed. "As if I would ever fall in love with you. Like you said, all I needed was to get laid." He patted my head.

"Never fall in love Oda." He got up and jumped out my window into his apartment. **He was stupid.** Of course I know that. It was the last thing I would do.

I am never going to fall in love. Not again.


	7. Chapter 4: Sleepover

"Mom I need to speak with dad." I finally got out after listening to her ramble on about me not calling and how she wanted to see me and that An has been over more than me. "It's important."

 _"You're in luck because he just came back about ten minutes ago."_ There was rustling before I heard him. _"Ritsu? What can I do for you?"'_

"Li found me." Nothing. "He found all your information and then found me."

 _"That kid…"_ **At least he sounds annoyed.**

"He is trying to blackmail me. He knows where I live and everyone at my job."

Dad sighed. _"All I can do is talk to him about and hope he gets the hint. Assassins are allowed to do things that do not jeopardize the society."_ This is not what I wanted to hear. _"Did Li do anything to you?"_

"No." I could not tell dad about going with him on a job. Technically I did not participate but dad would probably not look at it like that. "He just keeps calling me."

 _"Are you lying?"_ I was taken back by his tone. It's like he knew something. **No get it together. You don't have to be scared of him.** "No sir."

 _"Ok. I will see what I can do on my side. Anything else?"_

"No." _"Alright. I have to go now so I will talk to you later. Goodbye."_

"Bye." **No 'I love you' like always.** I rolled my eyes and through my phone on the table, laying on the couch. If only Takano knew I wish this guy was not my father. The only time he cared was when I was in the organization. Not only I had to worry about taking care of the company but he probably expected me to take his spot as Head. **Like hell I would**.

I did not hear from Li the rest of the weekend so I figured dad got to him. Serves him right. "The beginning of a new cycle." Kisa cheered with fake sarcasm.

"If you have time to talk start on your storyboards." Takano yelled, not looking up. Kisa rolled his eyes and started working. I started too so I did not have to hear Takano yell at me when my phone went off.

 _I can see you did not tell daddy about us hanging out._ **WHY CAN'T HE LEAVE ME ALONE?** _Your secret is safe with me if you meet me tonight at the same park._

This was pissing me off. Why can't he take the hint I do not want to anything to do with him? "Onodera. No personal time during work." To emphasize I felt the impact of a rolled up piece of paper hit my forehead.

"Okay, okay." No need to hit me. I turned my phone off and got back to work. When work was done I left first; this way I could avoid Takano. For all I knew Li was following me and he did not need to know more about Takano. Turning my phone back on there was a call from him. "What?" I groaned.

 _"Could be a little happy. Change of plans I'm in your apartment."_ I stopped. "HOW THE HELL YOU GET IN?"

 _"This coming from the man who taught me how to get through a steel door? Come on Oda."_ Oh right. _"Your place is gross."_

"Shut up." I really hated his laugh. The elevator was slower than usual. The music starting to annoy me. When I got to my floor I raced to my door to find it unlocked and bolted in to see it was perfectly clean. "Welcome home." Li called, coming out of my bathroom. "Work was good? I cleaned the place a bit so I could actually walk around."

"What are you acting as?" I have not seen this man for two years and he comes waltzing in like nothing has happened. Something was not right.

Li walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water before looking back at me. "You really need to go shopping." **Gee thanks for the advice.** "And I just wanted to hang with my best friend. We were inseperable once you were put in the England branch."

"That's because I was assigned to you to learn the tricks."

"Learn you did. You ended up being one of the best knife handlers in the organization. Which I noticed you have no knives in here. Not even butterknives or plastic knives."

"I hate knives."

"Yeah right. I think you know what will happen when you touch one again." He sat on the couch. "I think you know there is still a part inside you that misses the S.E.A." I did not answer. He was right.

"When are you leaving?"

"Well…I don't have a job and I report back in tomorrow morning so I'm here until then." **The hell he is.** "What's with that look? Let's have a sleepover."

"The hell? You're 29 years old. You are too old for sleepovers."

Li narrowed his eyes and threw the waterbottle at me that I dodged. Someone's touchy. "I still move like I am 19 and look that way too." I had to admit he did look good for his age. Not like Kisa but a more mature look and sharper features. "So I see no reason not to."

I sighed and sat next to him. He leaned over with a winning smile that showed he won. I glared at him and folded my arms. I was in total pout mode. "Still the same."

"Stop talking about the past." It was like I was talking to Takano. "It's real annoying."

"The past is important. It defines us." Oh I did not want to hear that. Not with my ex-lover next door and probably home. **Shit, if Takano is home and hears Li this will turn into a big problem.** The doors were not that thick unless Takano had bionic hearing. "You look nervous." Li pointed out, grabbing some papers which I recognized old storyboards I use as references. "So this is what you do for a living now? It looks complicated."

"It was when I first started but I'm getting the hang of it."

"Weren't you a literature editor though? How did you become a manga editor? Those are two different sections."

You are telling me. "There was a mix up and I was put there temporarily."

"Temporarily for almost a year."

"Just how much of my life did you go through!?"

"ALL OF IT!" He shouted, laughing. "SHUT UP!" Oh I hoped Takano did not hear that.

TAKANO

"All OF IT!" I looked to the wall connecting to Ritsu's. **Who the hell is that?** That was not Ritsu's voice so who did he have at 10 at night.

"SHUT UP!" Came Ritsu. I grabbed my phone but set it down quickly. Ritsu always said I was too clingy so I have been trying to give him space. Plus I wanted to see how long Ritsu would go until he came crawling back to me. It grew quiet and I was filled with questions. **Don't be jealous. Don't be jealous.**

 **Jealous.**

RITSU

When I got no call or pounding on the door, I felt I was in the clear. I sighed with relief and sat back down. "Why are you so on edge? I promise I don't have a camera or knives on me. You can strip search me if you want." Li winked.

I rolled my eyes. "As if."

"You used to like it. Remember the one time on The London Eye? Nothing beats the time on top of the skyscraper though. The first time." I could feel myself blushing. "You were the best."

"I don't want to talk about this." Just the thought of it was disgusting. I could only imagine what Takano would think if he knew the real me. The true 'Oda.'

"Don't get shy on me now Oda. It's actually a turn on." I felt his hand on my thigh and turned to see him leaning forward. He was inches away when I pushed him away. "No!" I got up and stood in front. "That's taking it too far Liang."

He did not look fazed and reached for my pants again. I took a step out of his reach. "You used to like it all the time, _Ritsu_. My mouth on your cock." Why does he have to use such foul language? "Am I the last person you had sex with Oda? Two years would be a long time." He reached over again and when his hand grabbed my zipper I kicked him in the arm, hard. "THE HELL?"

"I told you to stop." I started stomping around as he rubbed his arm. "Jackass. Why the hell you think you can just come back here and try to start anything? This forcefulness is stupid and pisses me off." Why do all men from my past think they could jump me whenever they want and I will not fight back?

 **Takano can jump you all the time though.** My inner thoughts started negotiating. **Well…he's different.**

Li was still on the couch. "Don't get so angry. It has been awhile since I last got laid and it looks like it has for you too." **That's because Takano has not tried jumping me since Thursday. Man I'm starting to get attached to him.**

"Get out of my house."

"Now, now." Li held his hands up. "I promise no more touching. My place is too far and I do not feel like getting up. Can I just stay the night?"

Such a pain. I sighed. "You better be out by 8." I gasped as Li wrapped his arms around me tightly. "Oh thank you Oda. I promise to be the greatest guest ever."

"Get the fuck off me." Ugh he still smelt the same. It was worse since he actually smelt good. And he was too damn tall; his chin was resting against my forehead. "Hands Li." He was not slick.

"You got me." Li pulled them away from my ass with a smile. "I just can't help it. You are too sexy."

"I'M GOING TO BED." He was getting on my nerve. I slammed my door closed and locked it, pushing my dresser in front. Last thing I needed was him sneaking in. He has been known to do that. I could not sleep; I ended up waking up many times during the night to look at the door. What made it worse was I did not know why I was on edge. Was it because I thought he would kill me? Or that he would rape me? Either way I was happy the next morning to see him gone. No evidence of his presence other then the water bottle on the table.


	8. Flashback 2: Memories Come Back

"That was too easy." Li laughed as we were jumping from building to building. As Li was laughing Ritsu had a blank face. He could not see what was so funny; all they did was kill an escaped murderer. He did agree it was too easy. When they were first called to do this Ritsu had spotted the man not twenty minutes later. He tried to put up a fight but Ritsu had sliced his throat in less than a second. "His face when the knife connected his throat. Priceless."

"You're laughing is getting annoying." We had just landed on top of some commercial building when I decided to stop. Li did as well. "Don't need to be mean." He looked towards the city of London. "You think the S.E.A. cleaned it up already?"

"Probably." They were fast with cleanup. This way the police could not get their hands in our business. "Oh yeah, Happy Anniversary Oda."

I looked at him, confused. "What anniversary?"

Li can to stand next to me. "Well, it has been two years since you officially went out in the field. How does it feel youngster?" I glared at him. Just because he is 20 and I am only 17 does not mean anything. I still got a better score in training then him and I was turning 18 next month. "Anything you want to do to celebrate?"

"There's no point. It's a stupid thing to celebrate."

"What? It's not something stupid. On that day you did meet me." He pulled me into his arms in a loving gesture. I growled and tried to push him away. "Let go of me."

"Why? Afraid you love me?" He pushed me to the ground and got on top of me. He was smiling while his eyes were questioning.

I scoffed. "As if."

Li smirked. "Love is worthless."

"Love is weakness." I added to the same motto we heard everyday.

 **Start of Smut! I know it is not TakanoxRitsu so please do not hate me! Feel free to skip!**

"Love will get you killed." He dipped down but instead of going for my lips he attached his mouth to my neck and bit down as hard as he could. I moaned from the pain as the blood rushed south. "My little uke."

"I'm no one's uke." He snickered and went back to biting my neck when I pulled my knife out and pointed at him. I could already tell this idiot was trying to make my skin black and blue and I was not going to walk through headquarters with showing marks. "Get the hell away from my neck before I slice yours." Stupid Sadist.

Li looked not to believe me but did pull away to straddle my waist. Smiling he took the knife from me and threw it to the side, Unbuttoning and taking my shirt off and then his. "Then I'll focus here then." He bit my nipple and twisted the other. **It hurts…so good.** My breath went jagged.

I needed more. My hand went up to pull his hair, causing him to growl and look at me with lust-filled eyes. "You're asking for it Oda. This will be the third time this week."

"Then get on with it idiotic sadist." His signature smile came as he tore my jeans off and squeezed my cock. "I am a sadist and you are my little masochistic uke."

"Don't call me your little—ah!" All I felt was wetted heat and saw his head bob up and down. Everytime he came up his teeth rubbed against me, adding to the pleasure. "Shit Li!"

"Liang." He huffed. "Call me Liang, Ritsu."

Before I could reply his mouth was back on my cock. "LIANG!" I could feel myself getting close until his fingers wrapped around the base and squeezed tightly. "Damnit! Don't piss me off." My knife was still in view.

He smirked and got up, lifting my legs so my knees touched my chest. "Should I be nice?" One hand came down to circle my entrance. "What do you think Ritsu?"

He really was a bastard. "Either you fuck me or I will kill you in the most painfullest way I can find."

"Someone's touchy when they want to get pounded." He unzipped his own pants, stroking himself as he came closer to my entrance. "To think this is what the most dangerous assassin looks like when he is vulnerable."

I had enough of his talking. It was easy to push him over so I was on top now and grabbed his cock. It was rock hard. "Who's vulnerable now?" I slammed down, mouth opened but no words came out. So much pain shot through my ass to the rest of my lower half but it only increased the pleasure I was feeling. Maybe I was a masochist.

I could hear Li's grunts of pleasure as I was riding him. He calls me vulnerable but as I looked at his face he was obviously lost in his own world. His eyes, still looking at me, were glazed and not focused. His mouth was opened slightly and hands moved to grab my hips, urging me to go faster. My focus shifted as he lifted his legs and thrusted up. "Shit Liang."

"So…fucking…good." He growled, making me moan when I felt his fingers dig into my bare sides. "Oh yes…yes Ritsu…oh shit." I felt him twitching inside. He was going to come soon. I could feel I was close, but when he grabbed my cock and pulled was the last straw.

"Shit!" I came onto both our stomachs. A second later I felt him let go inside of me. He growled and sat up to pull me into a bone-crushing embrace. He was breathing heavily against my ear and the sticky mess of my essence between us. "Even better than the London's Eye." He whispered in my ear.

I pushed him away, uncomfortable with how close we were, and pulled out. His own essence running down my leg. Right when he looked at me I punched him in the face. "I TOLD YOU THE LAST TIME NOT TO CUM INSIDE."

 **End of Smut!**

"But Ritsu I can't help myself. You're just too sexy." I went to punch him again but he dodged. "No need to be shy." Ignoring him, I threw him his shirt. "We have to get back Li."

He took his shirt but instead of putting it on he used it to clean us up. After he tied it around his waist as I put my clothes on. "Back to codenames Oda."

"Of course." He shook his head, something I did not understand. "Ritsu." I waited for him to say anything but when he did not I opened my mouth but was could not speak as his mouth was placed on mine; his tongue plunged into mine. I stood frozen, eyes wide, hands at my sides. **What was he doing?**

I was scared. It was not the kiss but rather the images that were appearing before my eyes. Books. Lots of them. Rain. An umbrella. A cat. A boy. A boy with black hair.

 **Who was that boy?**


	9. Chapter 5: Pained Love

"Have dinner with me."

"Wh-what!?" I jumped back but hit the other side of the elevator. I was focusing on my next storyboards when Takano said this suddenly.

"Have dinner with me." He repeated. Not a question, an order. "We haven't eaten together since last week and I do not want a chance for you to collapse again."

"I'm doing just fine."

He narrowed his eyes. "And just what did you eat last night."

 **Oh crap.** "Uh… a beef patty with tomatoes, onion—." "STOP EATING THOSE STUPID CHEESEBURGERS." He flicked me in the head quite hard. "We are having actual food! That's an order."

"Enough with your abuse of power." I grumbled but followed him home; there was not much choice. I tried to go home but he pulled me into his apartment. "You want coffee or tea?"

"Tea please." I sat on the couch in defeat.

"Today we will be having rice and leftover chicken. I don't feel like cooking." He brought me the tea and then went back to rustling around in the kitchen. There was an awkward silence. Once I was done with my tea I walked over to watch him cooking the rice. "There's a lot of steam."

"That means it is cooking rich boy." I narrowed my eyes. "Don't say something stupid then."

"You can never be nice." **I should have went home.**

Once the food was done we ate in another awkward silent atmosphere. That's all we seem to have. "Did you inform Mutou-sensei about her deadline for the storyboard?"

"Yes. I am checking back with her in three days when the storyboard is due." Takano nodded and went back to eating. Once we were done I offered to wash the dishes and whiel I washed he put them away in his dishwasher. "Don't we seem like a married couple?"

I did agree and I was enjoying this. We do not do a lot of simple stuff like this (our interactions are mostly at work or in the bedroom) so this was refreshing. But thanks to my nasty attitude. "Don't say stupid stuff." Was my reply.

It did not faze him and he moved closer to me and kissed my cheek. "No need to be shy."

 ** _"No need to be shy."_** I backed away when Li's voice rang in my mind. It was loud and it echoed. Takano was looking at me weirdly. "Onodera?" When I did not answer he started looking concerned. "Onodera."

I shook my head. "Sorry. Can I use your bathroom?" He nodded his head, his eyes scrunched, and I all but ran to that bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked normal but at the same time I was not.

My hair was the same style but it was also a style that Li had cut when I was 16. My green eyes looked unfocused. My head hurt. Li showing up was starting to bring up old memories from the past. I even had a dream last night about my very first mission on my own. All the blood.

"Ritsu." Takano knocked on the door. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. I'll be out in a minute." I splashed water on my face and opened the door. Takano looked worried. "Are you feeling alright? Do you need anything?"

"I'm fine. I just have a difficulty sleeping."

He smirked. "Missing me too much?"

"WHO SAID THAT?" He chuckled and leaned forward to kiss my forehead. "You need to improve your health. I will not allow you to go back into the hospital."

"I'm not planning to."

"Good." He pulled me close and held me. "Takano-san?" He said nothing and as much as I wanted to protest, his arms felt good. It was like he was holding my whole being together. "Someone is cooperating."

I did not reply and ended up hugging him back. Inhaling his scent was soothing. "Now I know something is wrong with you."

"Can't you just shut up for once in your life?" He chuckled and I felt his hands on my cheeks. He lifted my face to kiss me.

Cigarettes. Cigarettes, coffee, and Takano's natural taste all mixed together in a perfect kiss. His arms around me tightened and I let him lead me to the room and pushed me down on the bed. I pushed myself up on the bed as he crawled towards me. "No protests?"

"Just shut up before I change my mind."

"What a way with words." He undressed me quickly. Guess someone was impatient. He bent down to kiss me roughly, his tongue massaging mine. My hands went to his hair, feeling the silky locks go through my fingers without a single knot. He lifted up to look me in the eyes with such love and lust that made my body shiver. "Ritsu." He voice was like knives, piercing my ears.

I moaned when he grabbed my cock and massaged it. He then grabbed mine and pulled it down to touch his own hard erection. _So hot,_ I thought as I made the same up and down motion he was doing to mine. It could have been seconds or minutes before I let go and grabbed his shoulder. "Takano-san…please."

He nodded, his face showing he could not wait anymore, but when he reached for his drawers I stopped him. "It's fine. Please hurry." I sounded like a slut but I did not care. I needed him to take me, pain and all.

"Ritsu, I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't." Oh please hurry! He seemed to be debating and I almost just flipped us over so I can do it but he threw my left leg over my shoulder. My mouth popped open as did my eyes when he entered me in one thrust and waited. "Ritsu I'm sorry. I should have prepared you."

So much pain. So much…pleasure. I shook my head, my hands going to hold his arms. "It's fine."

He bent down to kiss my forehead as he slowly thrusted in and out of me. It was too slow to my liking. "Takano…faster…" I cried out when he sped up, throwing my legs off his shoulder so he could leaned down and hold me close to him. I could hear him grunting in my ear and felt his breath on my face. "Ritsu…Ritsu…shit…"

"I'm… ." I breathed out.

"It's okay. I am too." I kissed him, much to his surprise, and he growled into my mouth. We were fighting for dominance but I obviously lost and instead let myself get caught up with pleasure. That pleasure became too much and I cried out as my orgasm hit, sending my essence onto both of our stomachs. Two thrusts later he grunted and I felt him warm my insides. It felt wonderful.

It took a moment for us to catch our breaths. He got up first, going to the bathroom and bringing a rag to wash us off. He stopped in the front of the bed and looked at me with awe. Following his gaze I looked down to see his semen running down my leg from my opening. "Stop looking." My face heated up.

He smirked. "It gives me a sense of pride." I rolled my eyes and looked away. "You're just lucky it's you." He chuckled and kissed my neck and finished cleaning us up. Once he was done he laid back in bed, still naked.

"Stay the night." He whispered softly when his eyes closed and I could hear his light snores. **He always found a way to go to sleep.** It always amazed me how he could sleep so soundly while I stayed up tormented.

I should have gotten dressed and left, I had the chance, but I could not help but gaze at his face. He looked peaceful. A huge change from the demon boss I see at work. Little does he know the first time we had sex in high school he took a nap. I told him I fell asleep too but I was actually awake and watching him sleep. It was the peace on his face that always warmed me up. He never looked so relaxed before.

I wanted to be with him. I wanted us to be the happy couple I daydreamed about in high school. It pained me to keep this attitude but part of that was his fault for rushing things right now instead of taking things slow. We went fast last time and because of my insecurities it ruined ten years of our lives.

It made me wonder what would happen if I never ran. Dad sent me to England a week after that incident and kept me out of school. Even if I wanted to make up with Takano back then, I never got the chance.

 **I love you Takano...but would you accept what I became?**

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 **Don't hate me I made one with Takano and Ritsu! And the last chapter was the last smut between Li and Ritsu (flashback-wise duh duh DUUUHHHH)**


	10. Flashback 3: Saying Goodbye

**He didn't love me. He didn't love me.** I kept repeating in my head as I ran down the street. My heart was broken. Torn apart. The one person who ever made me feel alive, was using me. I could not believe I was being played. Why was love so difficult?

"Hello Ritsu, have a good study time?" Mother greeted me when I got home.

"Uh yes." I replied in a monotone voice. All I wanted was to get to my room. "Oh sweetie your father wants to talk to you when he gets home at 7."

"Ok mother." I raced up the stairs and when I was finally in my own private place, I let it out. I cried on the bed, sobbing into my pillow. I wanted to die. My heart hurts so much. "Why did he laugh?" I said to no one. "I thought he loved me?"

Seven came too fast and I was now sitting in the family dining room with my mother across from me and my father at the head. "How was school?"

"School was good." I hated how scared I was around my dad. The only good memories I had of him were him taking me to work and letting me sit on his lap at meetings. His tone was always monotone but his eyes looked to be dancing. I always felt a dangerous aura from my dad and always tried not to get on his bad side.

"I have a matter to discuss with you." **What did I do?** "You are 15 now Ritsu and your mother and I think it is time to include you now into the family business."

This was just about his publishing company? I thought it was going to be a lot worse. "I know you are thinking about Onodera Shuppan but that is not it Ritsu. That is just a front for the true business the Onodera's have been involved with for over 90 years."

"What is it?" I asked.

"We are part of the government called the S.E.A." **S.E.A.?** "It is the Society of Elite Assassins." My eyes went wide. Did I hear him right? Did he say assassins? "It is a secret part of the United Nations that takes out those who the government deem as a problem."

"…Oh, wow."

"Sweetie I know this is a lot but once you get your training everything will be alright."

Training? "What do you mean?"

"It is traditional that when a boy turns 15 they start training to be an assassin. I have arranged for you to go to our branch in England to start the training and then you would stay there for three-five years before coming back to work under me in the Tokyo branch."

"Wait what? An assassin?"

He glared at me. "You will not talk back and you will do as you are told."

No way. "I refuse." I stood up. "I do not want to kill anyone no matter how wrong they are. I do not want to leave for England. I want no part."

"Sweetie." Mom had to put her hand on dad's shoulder as she got up and walked to me. "I know this is surprising news but all this means you are joining the family business. Soon you will be a great assassin and the take your father's position as well as join marriage with An."

"I don't even want to marry An-chan. I don't love her."

This time my dad did stand up. "This has nothing to do with love. A marriage is simply for publicity, the potential the Kohinata's business has for us, and to bear the next heir to the Onodera line."

"And no offense honey, but it is not like you were interested in any other girl." It got quiet. How would I answer that? Yes I had no interest in any other girl because I was in love with a guy.

 **Was?** That could not be right. Yeah he broke my heart today but what if I was wrong? Maybe the kick I gave him was a bit too much. What if he was clearing his throat and not laughing? Maybe, he probably would be so mad tomorrow, but maybe I can hear him out. It just did not feel right leaving it how it was. "RITSU!" I came back to see my mom with a shocked face while my dad had a blank stare. "Ritsu answer the question: are you attracted to men?"

There was no hiding it. The fear I felt from their stares and the confusion in my head made me spill. "Yes."

I swear mom was going to faint. Dad did not looked fazed but that could have been an act. "How...why…really?" She started pacing around. "Of course you would. I would be the one to have a gay son. This is what I get for wishing for a daughter." **Harsh mom.** "Well say something."

Dad shook his head. "Preference is of no importance. All that needs to be said is you will bring the next heir in this world with Kohinata An."

"But…" "Enough. Everything has been decided." So I would be leaving senpai for years. Would I never see him again? The thought hurt my heart more than the heartbreak. I needed to see him again. "I leave at the end of the week?"

"Yes." Dad shook his head. "But tomorrow I will be pulling you out of school."

"What?" I gasped.

"There's a boy in this equation I can tell. I also see that whoever this boy you seem to be messing with attends that school. When you leave there will be no contact, not even with anyone in the family. There I will not be your father and you will just be another expendable asset. I will not risk you trying to rebel last minute because of this _fling._ "

"No, please let me go to back." I need him. I needed senpai. "Please. Just one more day."

"I made my decision. That will be all."

"FATHER!" SMACK. His hand connected with my face so hard I stumbled back. It was a shock to me. My dad was cold but this was the first time he struck me. My cheek was stinging. Mom was looking to the ground and dad still had that stupid blank face. "Watch that tone. Once you start, you won't even remember that boy."

I was escorted back to my room by a servant and I heard the door being locked. The second time I cried on my bed today. "Senpai…Senpai…"


	11. Chapter 6: Nowhere to Go

"Ricchan, you seem happy." Kisa noted as he looked over at me. "Did something good happen?"

"Nothing really."

"Maybe he just got a good night's sleep." I glared over at Takano. "Eavesdropping is rude." Plus I could feel myself start to blush since I was with him last night. Not my choice.

"Then get to work." He went back to whatever he was doing over there.

To be honest I was in a good mood over something else. It has been a week since Li last texted me and I felt myself getting back onto schedule after that curve ball. So there was a bit of a pep in my step now. Until Takano yelled at me for storyboards that were due tomorrow. When it was close to lunch Kisa asked me to get him some coffee from the vending machines since he had to review a proposal.

"So why are you so happy?" Takano asked from behind.

"What's wrong with being happy?"

"Nothing wrong. I like it." He leaned down to kiss me but I dodged it. "Not at work." Takano 'tsked' and grabbed some coffee for himself. "You will be spending the night again."

"I can't."

"I won't take no."

"I have work to do." I growled.

"Do them at my place."

"I can't concentrate at your place." I confessed. Working in closeness with him would only have distract me. This had Takano smirking, "So being near me distracts you huh?" **Jackass.** I quickly went back and gave Kisa his coffee. Takano's smirk never left his face when he sat down.

"Good work today." Kisa waved goodbye as he and I walked out. Takano had some extra work to do so I was able to luck out and leave with Kisa. He offered to walk with me most of the way since we were heading in the same direction when we stopped in front of Marimo Books. "Are you here to pick up Yukina?"

"Uh, yeah." His blush made my suspicions come true. Ever since meeting Yukina and his excessive questions about Kisa had me wonder if there was something there or Yukina wanting something there. His blush confirmed it. "What a good boyfriend."

"Ricchan hush!" I laughed as Kisa waved his hand in front of my face. "Don't say it out loud."

"I think it's cute." Just then out came the tall, prince-like man with the sparkling smile. "Hey Kisa-san. Oh, hello Onodera-san. It's been a while."

"Good evening, going to have a big night?" I was now messing with Kisa. He glared at me. "I don't think you should be talking Ricchan. Considering it's not like you and Takano do a good job of hiding your relationship." That shut me up. Kisa is ruthless in fights and I would lose horribly and die of embarrassment if I continued. He smirked in triumph. "Well I'll see you tomorrow Ricchan."

"Alright. Goodbye Kisa, bye Yukina."

"Bye Onodera-san." I waved as they walked away. They looked good together but it was surprising that Kisa was the older one of the two with his face.

I looked at the time to say it was 7:39. I was hungry. I was about to go to a local fast food place when Takano's words echoed in my head. He was a jerk but he did have a good point. I turned and headed to the convenience store.

 **What do I buy?** I did get some rice since it was the only thing I remembered that did not look so hard to make, some toast, more coffee, and a couple of microwave meals. At least this would get me through for a few days. I carried two bags, both light.

I was heading for the train station when I stopped. I thought it was my imagination but in the store I noticed two men in baggy clothes following me. I thought I was paranoid but I could see those same men behind the building across the street. **Why were they following me?**

Instead of going into the station I walked past, them still on my tail. I just kept walking. I had no plan nor anywhere to really go with this. It was an hour later and we were still walking around downtown until they changed it up. Two more men were walking my way, looking at me. Without thinking I turned down an alley.

"Where you going?" One of them called. "We just want to play."

 **Oh shit.** Right in front of me was a gated fence. I was trapped. "Nowhere to go." I turned to see them looking at me with smuggish faces. "And here I thought this was going to be a challenge."

They did not look Japanese. One man had pink streaks in his orange hair while another had a green Mohawk. The other two had beanies on. "Hey, were you really an assassin?"

I glared. "What do you know about that?"

"All I know is once you're dead our records are cleaned." Records? Did someone hire them? Could Li have? "Let's get this over with." Two of them came closer as one brought out a knife. "Hold him down."

 **Yeah right.** One went to grab my arm when I took my bags and hit him in the head. He stumbled back, giving me space to kick him in his stomach and really send him to the ground. Looking at the one, I yelped as a sudden pain came to my arm. Dropping both bags, I jumped away from the knife in front of my face and looked to my arm, seeing the cut through my jacket and feeling the blood running down my arm. "Still have some moves in you?"

I almost did not hear him. The knife, now dripping with my blood, was looking me in the eyes. You would think someone would be slightly scared, adrenaline running through their veins, but I felt nothing. It was like I was looking at a spoon.

He lunged for me and I saw black.


	12. Chapter 7: Never Leaving My Sights

My head was foggy. No thoughts. Nothing. My throat burned and my nose was itching. It was still dark, the only difference were that around me were four dead men with the knife I used in my right hand. They looked brutal. Two of them had multiple stab wounds to the chest, on had a stab wound to the head, and the last one had both. It was the Mohawk one, the one who originally had the knife. His eyes were still open, staring right up at me. Their blood mixed together and I had to step away so not to get any on my shoes. I was lucky; none of it got on my clothing and the one tear was easily covered.

I had to leave. Not thinking I stuffed the knife in my pocket and ran, climbing the wall that originally blocked me and going through the alleyways as if I belonged until I hit a busy part of town.

My head was down while I walked. I could feel people bumping into me but I paid no attention. My arms were crossed with my hands in the sleeves. I was feeling cold. I bumped into someone else, a bit harder, and I heard them grunt. "Watch where you're going!"

The voice was familiar but I did not look up. "Sorry."

"Onodera?" Hearing my name made me look up and I gasped when I saw it was Yokozawa. One of the last people I would want to see. "Yokozawa…san."

"Are you alright?" **Shit. I needed to leave.** "No…I mean yes, I'm fine, sorry for troubling you. See you tomorrow." I turned as he yelled my name one last time.

When I made it to my apartment I got in the elevator when I finally took my hands out of the sleeves and looked down to inspect the wound. Blood was still coming out but not that fast anymore. My long sleeve shirt was soaked in that spot and now it was seeping through my jacket. **Have to clean this soon.**

I did tiptoe to my apartment and opened the door slowly as to not make that much sound. I wanted to get cleaned up with I looked up and in my living room was Li. He smiled widely. "Hey Oda, have some problems on the way back?" The way he said that made me confirm my suspicion that he sent those men. I took out the knife and charged him. "Whoa now. Just calm down." He had his own knife and blocked mine, turning to push me onto the couch. "Ritsu."

"You fucking bastard. I'll kill you."

"Just like you killed those men?" I stopped then, the smell of blood hitting my nose. It started to make me sick and I ran to my kitchen to throw the knife in the sink. That stupid knife. My hands, I noticed, had tints of red. **I guess some blood did get on me.** They were shaking and I quickly washed off any blood that was on my hands or the knife. The water turned a red color. "What have I done?" **I killed people. Even in self-defense, I killed them.** What was worse: I am just now feeling any sort of emotion.

"Oda, Oda." Li was at my side as he spoke with a comforting tone. "Everything will be alright. You were such a natural with those men, just like before. Can't you see that the days at S.E.A. are still in your memory? You did nothing wrong Oda, this is just who you are."

"NO." I pushed away when I looked at the blood on my arm. I ran to my bathroom and took off my coat and shirt. The cut was long but not as deep. Most of the bleeding stopped except for in few areas. "This is not me." I said when I saw Li in the mirror. "This is not me."

"Keep saying that but we both know the truth. The S.E.A. will always be part of you." Faintly I heard a knock on the door but almost thought it was my own mind until Li turned to look that way and sighed. "Oda, you may hate me but I did this for your own good. You are wasting your life now. Wasting your talents." The knock was heard again. Li growled, "Just think about it."

He left, leaving me to clean up the wound. **He was wrong. This is the life I want to stay with. I don't want to be a killer.**

 **YOKOZAWA**

"Hi Oniichan." Hiyori greeted as I met the two in front of a bookstore. "How was work?'

"It was good." Zen smiled and when Hiyori turned he kissed my cheek. "You're late."

I moved away slightly. "There was a last minute change-up I needed to fix." We headed back to their place with Hiyori talking about the dinner she had with her grandparents. I tried to listen but I could not help but think about how Onodera looked just now. He looked sick and not there and he was shaking. I wondered if Masamune knew he was wandering around that late. Probably not. "Are you alright?" I looked up at Zen's concerned face.

"Ah sorry. Something was bothering me now."

"What was it?" Hiyori asked.

"I ran into a coworker. He did not look so good."

"Well I hope he is alright. Maybe you can make him a 'Get Well Soon' card." I chuckled, knowing I would rather die than do that, when Hiyori ran to my other arm to hold my hand and screamed. "Hiyori!?"

She grabbed my arm. "Oniichan's bleeding!" I looked down and on my arm there was a small spot of blood. "What's wrong Oniichan?!"

"Calm down Hiyo." Zen silenced her as I checked my arm. There was no wound on me. "You look fine." Zen pointed out. "But why is there blood?" That was a good question. Zen gasped. "Who was that coworker you ran into?"

"Onodera?" **Oh shit.** I remember him hitting my arm when he walked by. So was he bleeding? "You better make sure he is okay."

I pulled out my phone. I may not have Onodera's number but I still had Masamune's. "Yokozawa?" Masamune yawned into the phone. "Why are you calling so late?"

"Is Onodera home?"

"I think so. Why?" He voice immediately sounded concerned.

"I think you need to check on him."

"Why?"

"I just ran into him a few minutes ago. He did not look so good."

"Why the hell was he out so late?"

"How should I know?" I growled. "All I know is I have blood on my jacket from where he bumped into me so I think he is injured and sick." It went quiet. "Masa-." The phone started to beep as he ended the call. **I guess that's the end of that.** "Take this coat off." Zen tugged at it. "We should get the blood washed off."

He got it off and I shivered at the cold. "It's freezing. Let's hurry."

"I really hope your friend is alright."

I smiled and patted her head. "I do too. Now let's hurry. It really is cold." She smiled and grabbed my hand and Zen's.

 **TAKANO**

"Onodera." I pounded on the door. I did not even let Yokozawa finish before I headed over. This was the last straw. I tried giving Ritsu his space but the past week he has been distant and to hear he was out this late doing who knows what, with an injury, I needed to know what was going on with him. "Onodera."

The lock turned and was pushed open. I was ready to start questioning when I froze. Out came a man, as tall as me, with dark black hair and green eyes. He looked at me with a blank face for a minute before walking past me. I did not know what to say. Just who was this guy? "Oh, Mr. Boss." He accent was Chinese. **Boss? What does he know?** "Ritsu won't be here much longer."

"What?" He stepped into the elevator and looked back. "Just be prepared to never see him again." I wanted to ask but the elevator had closed. **Who was that man and how did he know me?** I turned back to the door. "Onodera?" Opening the door, I walked in to see the place actually clean. "Ritsu?"

There was coughing coming from the bathroom. "Ritsu." I went to the bathroom when I stopped. Ritsu had his shirt off and was cleaning a long cut on his arm. There were many wadded up toilet paper red balls collecting in the sink and he was currently holding one more. "Ritsu."

He jumped. "Takano?!" I rushed over and grabbed his hand. "What happened?"

"Muggers. They attacked me on my way home and one had a knife." He mumbled, looking straight at me.

"Why were you out so late?"

"I went to the library." Did he get better at lying? I had a feeling it was a lie but usually he blushes and looks away. "Wait." I rushed back to my apartment to grab my first aid kit and wrapped his arm with bandages. "That should do it."

"Thanks." He flexed his arm and bent down to pick up his shirt. I could see the blood stain on the arm. "I gotta wash this." As if I was invisible he walked around me and threw his shirt somewhere into the room. Then he went to his kitchen and was washing something that when I went closer saw it was a pocket knife with a wooden handle.

It was the first knife I have ever seen in this apartment. I thought it was weird before but figured since Ritsu had no cooking skill he did not need them. Did that man give it to him? "Where did that knife come from?"

He looked up at me. He had shadows under his eyes and he did not seem to be looking at me. He looked really tired. "Someone gave it to me."

"Was it that man who was just here?" No answer. "Who was that man?" No answer. "Ritsu?"

"No one important." He dropped the knife back in the sink and walked to the couch. He sat down and I could see he was upset about something. I sat next to him and put my arm around him. He did not fight me which was a step in the right direction but he still was thinking about something so I grabbed his chin and pulled him into a kiss.

A few seconds later I felt him grab my shirt. I pulled away for air when I looked down to see desperate eyes. "Please." He whispered. "I don't want to feel numb anymore."

That night was different. There was a sense of desperation as I thrusted into Onodera. His arms were wrapped tightly around my neck to the point I could hardly breathe but I did not care. Whatever was going on, through all my questions, my Ritsu needed me and right now this was the only way I could help.

"Takano…faster." I granted his request, hearing him cry out louder each time I went deep in him. I groaned in pleasure. No matter how many times we did it, Ritsu was always so tight and amazing. "Takano…I'm…close." Tears gathered in his eyes and his face grew even redder.

He came a second later, me following right after. I fell next to him in exhaustion but still got up to clean ourselves off. He was already asleep, usually passing out after our love making. As I watched his chest move up and down, I wrapped my arms around him. "Ritsu, I love you."

"Senpai…" I sighed and closed my eyes. Something happened to Ritsu. I'm pretty sure that cut did not come from muggers and he was not at the library so why was he out so late and who cut him? Then there was the strange Chinese man and the random knife. I suspected the man had something to do with the knife which must mean that man could have cut my Ritsu. I growled at that thought.

 ** _Ritsu won't be here much longer. Just be prepared to never see him again._**

I do not care who he was or how Ritsu knows him, it changed nothing. My biggest fear was Ritsu disappearing again so he was never going to leave my sight. He will be with me no matter what.


	13. Flashback 4: I Want to Forget

**I can't do this. I can't do this anymore**. I paced my room back and forth. Two nights ago Li kissed me. It was random, him claiming he just wanted to see how it would feel, but that kiss brought back the reasons for my heartbreak.

I still could not remember his name but I remember the boy I fell in love with. We went to the same high school. He was older then me. He had a black cat. He took my virginity. He broke my heart and I panicked and kicked him. Then before I could go back to school to maybe confront him again I was pulled out by my dad when he found out about him. Is he worried about me? Did he find someone new? Does he hate me? I needed to go back. I needed to see him again.

Next thing I know I was walking to the airport. It was not my intention; I went out for a walk, but the Heathrow Airport was coming into view and I had two thousand dollars in cash on me. It was crazy. If I was 17 then he had to be close to 19 or 20, meaning he could be in college, in a relationship, somewhere far away from my town, but it did not matter. I needed to see him. At least find out his name.

"Where are you going?" I stopped, surprised. I was so focused in my thoughts I did not even detect him. "Well?"

"Nowhere."

Li pushed himself off the wall and stood in front of me. He looked at the airport and back at me. "You know we aren't allowed to leave the country unless we were approved by the Head. Considering we do not see them until tomorrow and we just finished a job two days ago, I am going to assume you were not approved."

"Fuck off." I did not need this stalker questioning me. I tried walking around him but he got in front of me. "Get out of my way."

"If they find out they will punish you Oda. I don't want that to happen." I tried walking past him again but he grabbed my arm. "RITSU!"

"LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE." I growled, looking up at him. "What I do is none of your business. If they want to punish me then so be it. I don't need you or anyone else worrying about me."

"Then answer one question: why are you leaving? Or should I say, who are you trying to see?" Shit, did he know? "I have an idea. It's the one you lost your virginity to."

"What of it?"

He sighed, "You loved him didn't you."

For the first time I felt tears in my eyes and had to look away. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"I think I do. You're remembering the past aren't you? All that electroshock therapy have gone to waste."

I started to shake. Li was seeing too much to me. "Ritsu." His voice was so gentle, so different from his usual snarky attitude. "Are you in love?"

Hearing that broke the dam. I went to my knees and started sobbing. "I'm so confused. I don't even remember his name. I don't know if he moved on or is still there. But I have to see him. I have to know everything. I still love him."

As I continued crying he was patting my shoulder, comforting me. It may have been hours later when he helped me up and into a taxi. We went back to my apartment where he laid me down in my bed and then laid next to me. I fell asleep immediately and woke up to him staring at me with a strange look. "What?"

"We have to go."

"We will go back to scheduling meetings twice a week." The Doctor said as he walked over to his machine. I sat in the chair, quiet, with all the gizmos connected to my head. "We will do it for a six month period and gradually decrease to every other week."

When I still said nothing he sighed. "We are only concerned with this sudden relapse you had. Assassin Li already confessed this was triggered when he experimentally kissed you and he is being properly punished but you did almost run away because of these memories. We cannot have this situation happen again."

"Can we just get this over with? I want to forget."

"Good answer." He flipped the button.


	14. Chapter 8: Give Me My Life Back

**He's here.** When I opened my eyes I was in Takano's arms. Last night I was pathetic. Holding that knife, killing those men, confronting Li, was terrifying. More so since I felt nothing. My whole body was numb that night. The moment feeling came back to my body was when Takano kissed me. It made me want more and led to last night's passion.

As he slept I relished the feeling of his warmth. I never wanted it to end. Right then he woke up. "Good morning." He brushed his hand across my cheek. My cheek tingled from his touch. "Did you sleep well?"

I nodded and looked down. He kissed my forehead. "I'm worried about you Ritsu. You've been acting so strange lately."

"Everything's fine." It did not sound so convincing. "We have to work soon."

I tried to move but he would not let me. "Work can wait. Who was that man last night?"

 **Oh right, he saw Li.** "A family friend."

"Why was he here?" **Enough with the questions.** "I invited him over but decided to go grocery shopping before. Then I tried a shortcut to the train station and that's when I ran into the men who tried to mug me." At least my skill of making up stories on the spot came back. "Did he say anything?"

Takano tensed up before burying his head in my neck. "Nothing." I did not believe that. **Li better not have said anything idiotic.** "Ritsu, you can trust me." Don't say that. "I will always be here and I am never letting you go anywhere."

"I have nowhere to go." I mumbled. It is not like I wanted to go anywhere. I did want to be with Takano.

Work was crucial. I do not even remember much about it. One minute I was asked to write a proposal for a new manga and the next Hatori and Mino were saying good work and leaving. Kisa had already left and Takano had gotten up and followed another editor somewhere. I took this as a chance to leave before he questions me again, gathering all my stuff. **Get a hold of yourself Ritsu. You will fall behind in work if you keep worrying.**

I walked out and was greeted to Li. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I can't give up on you." He started following me. "I want you to readmit yourself as an assassin. I want my partner back."

"You can get others. I want you to stop harassing me, stop calling me, and stop coming near me. I want nothing to do with you Li." He grabbed my arm and pulled me through the street. "What the hell?!" We made it to the park we first met at when he let go. "What the hell do you want from me Li?"

He glared at me. "I already told you. I want you to rejoin the S.E.A. Last night proves you still have your skills, as rusty as they are. It won't be long before you are the great assassin you were."

"Just leave me alone. I have no intention of going back. Stop harassing me or else."

"Or else what? If you go to your dad I will bring up the four men you killed and then the time you came with me on that job. Your father will take that as you wanting to come back and he will take you away like he did when you were 15. Face it Oda you are trapped. There is no other way to go other than to rejoin."

I growled. "NO. I will not go back. Not to that pain, not to the killing, not to anything. You do not know what I had to go through. What they did to me that month I said I wanted to leave. They were trying to kill me. I know it. My own father wanted me to die." I was shaking now. Even after two years I could still remember the pain as if it happened yesterday. "But I did survive and then dad tried to control me by getting me a job at his publication. But then it took people talking behind my back to realize that he still had a hand on shoulder, ready to manipulate me when he needed to. I wanted me own life. There is nothing that will make me go back."

"I'm sorry you went through that but that is standard assassin rules; your father had no choice but to follow. And the rest was partly my fault. I left for two months and could not be there to help you. This time it will be different. I won't leave you again." He grabbed my hand to pull me closer. "Never again."

"Li—." I was cut off when he placed his mouth on mine, shoving his tongue in my mouth. He pushed me up against a tree and pressed his whole body against mine. His leg moved between mine and I stifled a moan when his knee rubbed against my cock. "Knock it off." I gasped as he started nibbling at me neck. "Not here."

He looked me in the eyes. I could see the lust. "Then let's go back to your place." **No.** It felt wrong. All I could think of Takano. We were not in an actual relationship but he was the only one I wanted to touch me. "GET OFF OF ME." I kneed him in the stomach and pushed him off of me. "Stay the fuck away from me."

"You can't fight this Oda. Deep down this is what you want."

"You don't know me."

"But I do." I did not want to see him again. I turned to walk away. "You can't just leave Oda. Oda! Ritsu!" He kept screaming but I ignored him. I just wanted to get home.

I faintly heard him cuss and then next thing I heard was a gunshot, followed by a pain in my arm and the coolness of the concrete.

 **TAKANO**

 **Damn Ritsu. Got away from me again.** I came back from helping another editor to see Ritsu gone. He must be avoiding me now. I gathered my things and headed down into the lobby. There I noticed a boy leaning up against the wall with a questioning face. He looked lost. "Do you need something?"

The boy looked up and the first thing I thought was foreigner. His blonde hair was up in a ponytail and hazel eyes were wide, almost innocent. He did not look old, maybe in his late teens, early 20's, and I was easily a foot taller. He was more like Kisa's height. He wore a jacket that looked baggy on him. In his hand was a jar filled with buttons. He sighed and shook his head. "I thought someone I knew was here but I guess he left." His voice was gentle, almost like a girl's, and sounded English. "Have a good night." Before I could reply he ran out.

First there was the Chinese man from Ritsu's and now this English kid. Was it just me or was I starting to see foreigners?


	15. Chapter 9: Saga-Senpai No Longer Exists

"Do you remember the two men who mugged you guys?" The officer asked. I sat in the hospital bed silent as Li told a ridiculous story of us walking in the park when two men in ski masks jumped out and pointed a gun at us. He gave him his wallet but when they tried to get mine I fought back because of my hardheaded attitude (his words not mine) and I ended up getting my arm grazed by a bullet. It was not a horrible wound but I admit the sudden pain made my body freeze and fall. Anyway, after that the one man without a gun told them to leave and Li dragged me here.

When they left I glared at Li. "What?"

"I'm going to kill you one day." Was all I said.

He snickered. "Good luck with that."

"What happened to never using guns?" He shrugged. "I took it from my last job as a souvenir and you were making me mad so I decided to take my anger out on you." He looked at my arm that now had a wrapped bandage and stitches. "At least I only grazed the arm instead of put a bullet through it. Stop being a baby."

"I'm sorry, normal people do not expect to be shot at in the first place." I looked down at my arm; the bastard had the nerve to hit the same arm as my cut. It was now a scab but thanks to the gunshot my arm is looking all sorts of messed up.

"Oh you are fine."

"And how do you expect me to explain this to my coworkers?"

"Use the same story I told or hide it."

"Yeah but…" I already used that excuse when Takano saw my knife wound. If I said it again it will just make him even more suspicious. "That will not work." Guess long sleeve shirts will forever be my best friend.

Li patted my shoulder. "You'll think of something. Though you would not have to if you just come back."

 **Not this again.** I pushed his hand away. "I said no. Nothing will ever make me go back." There was a knock on the door. "Come in." When the door opened I gasped. "Dad?"

"Hello Ritsu, Li." Li nodded his head and walked away from my bed to sit in the empty chair at the side. "Thank you for calling."

I turned to Li. "You…" "Do not be mad. It was Li's responsibility to inform me of any incidents that could reflect on the S.E.A. in a negative way. He will be punished for what he has done." **Good.** "But I am aware you are also keeping things from me." **Shit.** "Ritsu. I asked you before if Li has done anything to you and you said no. Now I will ask again: what have you done with Li?"

I could not hide it. "He dragged me on a job. I did nothing though and just watched."

Dad was emotionless. "Anything else?"

I sighed, "He sent men on S.E.A.'s wanted list to kill me."

"I see. And what happened to these men?"

"I killed them." Dad did not say anything for a while and it made me worry. What was he thinking? Finally he sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Ritsu. You put me in a tough spot."

"Can't you just ignore it? I never wanted anything to do with S.E.A. before he came back in my life. I was perfectly fine before."

Dad walked back to the door and opened it. "Your turn." I tensed as The Doctor came in. Looking the same way he did two years ago. He smiled. "Nice to see you again Oda."

"What the hell is he doing here?" I spat.

He chuckled, adjusting his glasses. "I hear someone has been making a mess for S.E.A. recently."

"It's not my fault." He opened his bag and pulled out a small syringe with a white liquid in it. "What's that?"

"Just a relaxer." I scooted away. "It will help you calm down and even help with any pain you feel." I tried to get up but Li held me down and covered my mouth. "This will only hurt for a second." My struggle was futile as he stabbed my shoulder with the needle. My shoulder burned where the drug was inserted and my whole body was on fire. "Don't be afraid."

His voice sounded distant. Everything was fuzzy. I could barely make out anything except for one thing. My dad's smile.

I could not remember how I got back but I found myself waking up in my bed. The sun was shining through my window. Lifting up I flexed my arm, lifting my sleeve to see the bandage. I forgot Li shot me. **Asshole.**

I was going to look for my clothes when I noticed something wrong. **Was my dresser always over there?** The dresser was on one side of my bed, which was different, and looked to be farther away than normal. Now that I think about it, my room was larger than I remembered. Was it just cleaned? I stumbled out of my room, not able to stable myself, and fell onto the couch.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. I felt hot and wiped sweat off my forehead. **Need to turn the temperature down.** I went to get back up but heard someone knocking that hurt my head. It sounded as if it was thunder right in my ear. I wanted to say something but my throat felt dry and I could not speak. "Ritsu, wake your lazy ass up…Ritsu?" I looked up from Takano looking down at me with concern. "What are you doing on the floor?"

 **Oh, how'd I get down here?** I was sitting on the ground next to my couch. "Huh."

He grabbed my arms, be flinching as I could literally feel my stitches being stretched, and lifted me up, grunting since I did not help him. "It's a good thing you are light but that also means you need to eat more." I was hungry. "Ritsu?" I looked over and his eyes were filled with worry. "Is everything alright?"

"I think so." Everything was feeling weird. It was getting even hotter in there and I ended up taking off my shirt. "What are you doing?"

"It's hot." I did not even care if Takano was looking at me. I was really hot. I heard him gasp. "Why do you have this bandage?" He pointed to the gunshot wound.

"Uhhhhhhhhh a mugger." A sudden panicked feeling came over me and I started fidgeting. Takano narrowed his eyes. "Work. We have work." I went to get up but my legs gave out." "RITSU!" Takano caught me but we both ended up going to the ground. His hands were cold on my bare chest and it made me shiver.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He was so closed, just inches away. He looked in my eyes and his went wide. "Are you…are you on drugs?"

"I don't do drugs." His voice seemed distant. His brown eyes were bigger and the brown color seemed more vibrant.

"Then did someone slip you something?"

"No." My heart was picking up. I felt scared. I needed him away. Bad things would happen. "Go." Tears came into my eyes. I sat up and tried grab the couch but it seemed out of reach. "Ritsu." His arms wrapped around me. "Everything will be fine. I don't know who had done this to you but I will help you. No one will touch you again."

"Senpai." It slipped out. Memories coming back to me of us in high school, reading in the library. It was a happy time. A better time.

 ** _"You are wasting years of this for a stupid boy."_** I froze. Behind Takano my dad stood with an angry face. " ** _Soiling the family name for your homophobic tendencies."_**

Next to him appeared me strapped in a chair. The scene that was showing was when I was 20. I had another relapse, my third one that year, nineth one since I was 17. This time I fully remembered all about Saga-senpai. I was able to hide this until my dad came to visit my place to discuss going back to Tokyo when he found my address book from Tokyo, searching for Saga households.

That was the last straw and instead of just electroshock therapy he decided a more serious approach to make me forget. **_"Saga-senpai hurt you, didn't he? You said it yourself he did not even love you." I shook in the chair as gasoline was forced into my mouth. It tasted vile. I could barely breathe. The Doctor took the tube out and I coughed up what was in my mouth. Father stood watching with a disappointed glaze._**

I could taste the gasoline. It was gross. I started coughing heavily as if I just tasted it. "Ritsu?" I felt Takano patting my back. "Ritsu?"

 ** _I cringed in pain as slice after slice from the knives The Doctor slid along my body. My hands were bounded to the armrests as tight as the ropes could, making the area bleed from the severe rope burn. I already had not eaten in three days and got one water bottle worth of water a day so my body was weak. The only water I had was forced down my throat to the point my body tightened and had terrible cramps. Combine that with hours of slicing my body and being beaten. He attached the cables as he got the electroshock equipment ready. "Oda. You fell in love once but that is not your life. Love is weakness. Repeat."_**

 ** _"Love…Love is…Weakness." I cried when a bolt of electricity went through my body from my hands._**

 ** _"Love is worthless. Repeat."_**

 ** _Another shock. "Worthless…love is…love is worthless…" I felt so close to death._**

 ** _"This boy broke you Oda. He ruined love for you. He is responsible for these punishments. You do not want another round of these heinous acts. You do not want to keep doing this do you?" Another shock. "Do you?"_**

 ** _"NO!" "Then commit now. Forget about him on your own, with our help, and the pain will go away. He can no longer exist. Saga-senpai no longer exists."_**

 ** _He shocked me again, keeping it on for what seemed like forever. My whole insides were burnt. When he turned it off, I was still shaking in the chair. "Oda?"_**

 ** _When the pain was gone so were any of my thoughts. I could think of nothing except for the one thing that would save my life. "Saga-senpai no longer exists."_**

"Saga-senpai no longer exists." Was the only thought that came to mind.

"What did you say?" I focused back on Takano—Saga—and I could feel the fear. The Doctor's words came back and I pushed him as hard as I could. "GET OUT!"

He seemed confused. "Ritsu?"

"JUST GET OUT! GET AWAY FROM ME! YOU'RE DEAD. YOU CAN'T BE HERE. STAY AWAY. STAY AWAY." Saga made an advance and I ran into my room and locked the door. "RITSU!"

The walls were constructing and changing forms. Everything was spinning. I fell to the ground and put my head in my arms. "Ritsu. If you do not say anything I am calling the ambulance."

The ambulance meant doctors. "I'm tired." He needed to go. Saga-senpai needed to be away from me. "I'm not feeling well. Just please, go."

I could hear him sigh. "Okay. I will allow you to miss work today but I will be coming back later."

"Whatever." **Just leave.** "I love you." My heart clenched. It was when the front door closed I let the sobs out.


	16. Chapter 10: The New Foreigner

**TAKANO**

I sighed again as I thought of Ritsu. This morning scarred my mind. He was so out of it. It was obvious he had some type of drug in him. Was Ritsu part of some gang? Was he stressed and taking them to calm down? Did he have a drug problem?

It pained me that Ritsu refused to talk to me about anything. And now he had another bandage on his other arm that he also said was because of muggers. **What was going on with him?**

"Masamune." I looked up to see Yokozawa walking towards me.

"Hey."

He glanced back at Ritsu's desk. "Where is Onodera?"

"Sick." He looked concerned for a split second. "You better not fall behind in deadlines." He left after that and I was momentarily comforted. I know Yokozawa was being a friend just now but does not like to show his soft side around others.

"I hope Ricchan is fine." Kisa mumbled.

"Kisa I need your proposal." He quickly started typing. I was hoping so too.

When work was done Hatori and I walked out together. He had to stop by Chiharu's place to get his manuscript and I wanted to get to Ritsu as fast as possible. As we got to the lobby we heard a commotion and turned.

"So sorry." I was surprised to see that same English foreigner apologizing to a woman. On the ground were a bunch of different shape and colored buttons. "Sorry. Sorry." The woman gave him a hard glare and walked away. The boy shrugged and knelt down to pick them up, putting them in a glass container.

"Good work today." I waved to Hatori when I looked next to my foot to see a bright blue button next to my foot. I picked it up and walked over to him. "You dropped this."

He looked up and smiled. "Aw thank you." He took the button stood up next to me, putting the lid on it. There were a lot of buttons in there. "You have quite the collection."

"I have been collecting since I was 16." He said with a sense of pride.

"And how old are you now?"

"20." So he was young. "What is your name?"

"Takano Masamune."

"Nice to meet you Takano, my name is Gus." He held out his hand and I shook it. "What keeps bringing you to Marukawa?"

His smile turned sad. "I wanted to catch my brother but I keep coming at times he's not here."

"If you tell me his name I might be able to get a hold of him."

"No." He shook his head. "I'm afraid if he finds out I'm coming he might try to run." **What kind of brother would do that?** "It's not like brother doesn't want to see me. I'm sure he does, I think he's scared."

I sighed, I really wanted to leave but this boy almost reminded me of high school Ritsu and my curiosity got the better of me. "Why would he be afraid of his own brother?"

"Well he's not my real brother but I look up to him like one. We met at our line of work. He quit about two years ago and since then I haven't seen him."

"That's a long time."

He frowned. "Now I'm sure he's losing his mind. I found out that my job is harassing him to come back and I'm pretty sure they have injured him more than once." Damn. Physically injuring someone to go back to a job? It must have been a serious one. "If this keeps going, my boss might end up just taking him away. Or kill him."

I was shocked. Killing a man? Who on Earth in our business would involve themselves in something that would get them killed? Gus looked back up at me with a smile. "So I am going to cheer him up with my collection!" He chuckled. "It was nice to talk to someone here." He turned to leave. "Bye Bye Takano."

He was gone before I could ask him who his brother was. Now it was in my mind as I headed to the train station. Was the person in some type of gang or illegal activities? Sounds heavy. Hopefully it was no one I knew.

I missed the first train and had to get on the next one. It was late when I got back. I still had Ritsu's keys and I planned to use them. I was hoping he would be asleep but if not I still could go to my apartment and make him something to eat. When I got off the elevator I headed straight for his door. I unlocked the door but when I opened it I got caught by the security lock. I know I did not do that so then did Ritsu? "Open up." I pounded on the door.

A second later the door closed and the lock was taken off. When it opened fully I gasped. "Ah, Mr. Takano." Gus smiled. "What a pleasant coincidence."

"Why are you here?" **What is he doing with Ritsu?**

"I told you I wanted to see my brother but since I kept missing him at work I found his address and decided to come here instead." I stood there, shocked. All the stuff about the job and the harassing that he said was happening to his "brother" came back. It was all making sense now; the knife wound, other bandage, strange behavior this morning, the mysterious man, another foreigner. "Were you also coming to see Oda?" Oda? Ritsu's fake name from high school. "AH sorry I meant Ritsu?"

"Gus?" I heard Ritsu call. He sounded sick still. Gus looked behind him. "Coming." He looked back at me. "Sorry, Ritsu isn't feeling good right now so he can't see anyone. I'll be sure to tell him you came by."

"Wait…" We both turned to the sound of vomiting from the hall.

"Not again." I heard Gus mumbled. "Good bye now."

"Wait a min…" He slammed the door in my face and I could hear him locking it. Cussing, I shuffled back to my apartment and sat down. My foot started tapping as I tried to calm myself. It pained me to know there was something wrong with Ritsu that I did not know about.

I already know about his job at his family's publishing business but something tells me that is not the job Gus spoke of. Was it that bad that they would cut his arm or do who-knows-what to the other? I also think they drugged him. The true Ritsu was not there this morning.

I sighed and sat back on the couch. **What's wrong with you Ritsu?**


	17. Chapter 11: The Double Agent

"I told you not to drink unless I give you the bottle." Gus shook his head as I puked my guts out. "I told you that your time perception is different." When I was done I laid against the wall. The bad taste of orange juice in my mouth. "Come on you have to get up." I got up, with his help, and made it to my couch.

"Why are you here Gus?" I met Gus when he first joined S.E.A. which was sometime after my last relapse. Like Li he was an orphan, or so he said, and was actually picked up off the streets of London by another Head who saw potential in his eyes. They were as sharp as can be. Seriously this guy could spot someone miles away. He was strange but I found that as his way of coping with things and even became my own coping method. I truly think that without Gus I would have ended up the ruthless killer my dad wanted me to be.

He smiled. "I heard from the grapevine a rumor that Li has been assigned to bring back an old assassin. Curious, I did some snooping and found your file in his possession. You already told me about one of the Heads being your father and it seems The Doctor and your father have been meeting with Li a lot lately. And then last night I had one of my men trailing The Doctor and he was at a hospital where you were admitted for a gunshot wound from a mugging attempt."

I snickered and looked down at my wound which Gus cleaned up a few minutes ago, or was it an hour? "Yeah. Li used it surprisingly out of anger." And yet he so graciously did not puncture my arm. "The Doctor and dad came in and that bastard injected me with something."

He handed me a small glass of juice that I downed quickly. He kept saying the Vitamin C was good for my body, something he always did before, stating that 'vitamin C solves everything.' "Sam said it could be a high dose of LSD or some type of hallucinogen. Symptoms match that of a hallucinogen: twisted sense of reality, headaches, nausea, and the sudden flashbacks playing memories in front of you. We are just lucky you stayed in your room."

"I was too afraid to leave." It was scary. I thought days were going by in just one. I was claustrophobic but made no movement to leave my bed. My dad was screaming at me; different jobs I took and the bodies laying next to me; men running at me with knives and guns before disappearing when they got close. When Gus first came in I attacked him. His stupid buttons brought me back and I threw up in the sink.

"Oda used to never be afraid." Gus took the glass from me. "Lucky you, even with the large amounts in your body the effects of LSD and most hallucinogens last for up to 12 hours. You should be feeling better soon."

 **Thank goodness**. I sighed. "I'm going to kill them."

"I know you want to but you can't kill them. At least not your father of The Doctor. They are crucial for taking down S.E.A." I thought it was funny that Gus was a double agent. He was a spy for another organization that is sponsored by America and Europe. It was created to fight against S.E.A. and Gus was their newest tactic. Unlike all of us who started S.E.A. at 15, Gus started training when he was 8. He was not an orphan; his father was a politician in America and one of the main financial providers for the organization and Gus personally took the opportunity to go after S.E.A. because a member killed his mother on a mission.

When Li told me about the England branch under investigation, I knew Gus's side was winning. That was the first branch he was sent to. "Can't you take them down any sooner?"

"These things take time. I just barely got the England branch and it has been five years since I joined that place."

I looked down at his jar of buttons. "I thought you would have a lot more." I gave that jar to him seven months after he joined after noticing handfuls of them in his pockets. It was filled up but I figured there would be more.

"I used to drop this a lot and would lose buttons all the time."

"Of course you would." Clumsy Gus. He laughed. "Hey Oda, who is Mr. Takano?"

I froze. "How do you know him?"

"He came by just now and I saw him twice when I went over to Marukawa."

"What did you say to him?" Oh man. Just thinking about this morning I felt horrible. Takano had to see me in such a pathetic state.

Gus looked guilty. "I…may have called you Oda in front of him." I gasped. **Shit.** "I didn't think it was a big deal. But I'm guessing not."

"This is going to be bad." I groaned. **There was no way I could hide any of this from him. Would it be alright to tell him the truth? Would he look at me like a monster?** "Is Takano someone who knows you as Oda? When I said that he seemed pretty freaked out."

"It was a long time ago." I looked at him only to find him in front of my face, staring at me. "What?"

He pulled back and gasped. "Is Mr. Takano the one you loved?"

I blushed. "Why would you jump to that conclusion?"

"You never blush unless we talk about your love life. You told me Oda came from a crush in high school and Mr. Takano looked really worried when we heard you vomit and horrified when I said Oda. So it's obvious he knows that names and so one can imply that he was your crush in high school. He's also your boss right? I went through your file as well." I chuckled. **Everyone seems to be going through my file.** "This is great! Falling in love is the ultimate way to show you are moving past the S.E.A."

 **Yeah right.** I frowned and looked at my hands. "It's not what you think. I haven't told him 'I love you' even after a year of "being" with him. He's been so adamant on making me say it but I can't give that to him. I don't even think I deserve to love." Takano should not be with someone so tainted.

"So the S.E.A. is still holding you back, even just a little." Gus sighed before looking to the door. "But…I think Mr. Takano is chipping away at it, piece by piece. You say a year and he still clearly loves you. Hell even after the incident in you high school years I know you still want to be with him."

"Stop sounding older than you are." Gus laughed loudly. "I can't help it. This is the tone you would always take with me back when you were helping me. I already knew my purpose: to destroy S.E.A. and get my revenge. And then you showed me that instead of letting revenge drive me, I should be saving those who were forced into the S.E.A. I looked up to you. You helped me and now I am here to help you." Gus was really like my brother. We had each others' back ever since the beginning. "I want to help you find closure so you can truly be in love Ritsu. I want you to know that the motto about love that was used in the S.E.A. is bullshit. Love is not worthless or weakness and it will not always get you killed."

He had such a determined face as he spoke and I started getting suspicious of something. "Gus, do you have someone?"

He smiled widely. "Sure do. Her name is Emily. She is a sniper for the FBI and I met her on a mission a year ago. She is sooo cute and loves buttons too! She gave me this one!" He reached into the jar and took out a small pink cloth and opened it to show a pink button with glitter.

Cute." Gus nodded and shoved it at the bottom. "I haven't seen her in a month and it's been hard but after I take out the Tokyo branch I plan to meet with her in America. I told her all about you. She really wants to meet you. Every time I see her she would ask if I saw you. I can't wait to tell her I did. Once everything is over would you like to meet her?"

I smiled. Gus looked really cute right now. "Of course." It was nice to hear he found someone. Maybe there could be some way for even me to have love. Gus cheered and hugged me, almost strangling me. "This is great." I chuckled, patting his back. "Emily is my weakness, but at the same time she is my strength to make sure I am still alive to go back to her. Yes love is something tricky in this type of work but it is wrong what the S.E.A. does. All they want are mindless puppets who will do anything they said. You saw that, you still see it with Li. No doubt he is being controlled by your father. I don't know why exactly they want you to return but I know Li is part of their plans. So now we have to be cautious. I won't let you become one of them again."

"Thanks Gus." It made me feel weak that I could not deal with this on my own but it also was reassuring. We turned when his phone went off. "Hello?" Ritsu waited as Gus spoke to whoever on the other line. "Got it. Yeah I'll come in. Be there soon." He hung up and groaned. "Got a job?"

He sighed, "Headquarters is calling me in." He got up. "Oh Ritsu, I forgot to tell you, I wanted to ask you something. My superiors think I should quit S.E.A." I gasped. If he quits, that means that… "They think with the England branch down I will be looked at but I told them about the price to get out. You showed me that running away is not an option, even if I am for another organization, and I know about the month resignation. That month they basically try to kill you through different methods and if you don't die then you can leave. That month is supposed to psychologically scare you into either killing yourself or becoming so scared of the outside world there would be no reason to worry about them spilling their secrets. But you were different right? I've seen other assassins who get through, all either dead or missing, and all have burn marks, deformations or even missing limbs. But not you. You are the only one I've seen that does not have any type of mark that others have gotten. So I have to suggest that they did something internally, to not show marks. I know you don't want to remember but Ritsu I have to know, what did they do to you?"

I could not speak. That month. He was right, mostly people got burned or whipped in the back along with electricity, drowning, suffocation, and sometimes even dogs and bugs and rats were used for torture. Limbs do get ripped off, faces deformed, the most gruesome way to die…would have been better than what I had to see when people resigned. It was stupid for me to think that I was lucky not to get most of those but I always thought it had to do with my father's influence. But that month…that month… "Ritsu? Ritsu?" I looked up at Gus who looked scared. "Ritsu stop." Wondering what he was talking about, I looked down to see my hand scratching at my cut, making it bleed. "Ah shit." The pain was now registering.

"It's alright. You don't have to tell me now if it is too dramatizing." He ran and grabbed more bandage and rubbing alcohol, cleaning the cut up and re-bandaging it. "I have to go now. Ritsu I need you to stay here and do not leave. Also do not answer your phone or door to Li. I'm sure he would not come here after yesterday but we still have to be on alert. They drugged you once, who knows what they will do next time."

"Yeah. I'll be fine." He did not look convinced so I smiled. "I'll have to catch up with work."

"Alright, have fun."

"You too." He waved, taking his button collection with him. When he was gone the panicking feeling was coming back. The empty apartment seemed tensed, no comfort anywhere. I guess it always felt like this but I just never noticed it. It was starting to scare me.


	18. Flashback 5: Meeting Gus

I was beyond pissed. Not even two months after my last "session" and now Father decided to assign a new assassin for me to watch. Apparently the other two assassins he was assigned to all that he was too bat-shit crazy for them to deal with. Pussies. Probably some kid that liked weapons too much. The biggest reason I was mad was because of that I am walking to the meeting room at 6 in the morning. I was really hoping to sleep in.

Getting there I knocked on the door before waiting for someone to say 'come in.' Opening the door there was The Doctor, standing next to the new assassin. It was a small boy with shoulder-length blonde hair and wide hazel eyes. "Ah Oda, there you are." I was only five minutes late. "I would like you to meet…" "Hello, or Konnichiwa!" The boy jumped out of his seat and practically skipped over to stand in front of me. I got defensive at first until he held his hand up. "Gomen!" His Japanese sounded choppy and strange with the English accent. "I can speak English." I said with a glare.

He did not look effected. "Of course, of course. My name is Gus, I look forward to working with you."

"You too I guess."

"I will let you two be acquainted." The Doctor walked over, stopping to lean in to my ear. "Remember what I said before." I made no movement and he left. When it was gone I looked Gus up and down. He was pretty scrawny, makes sense if he was an orphan, and almost innocent-looking. I wonder if this is what I looked like to Li. "So you are the famous Oda? I heard so much about you from the other two I was with. I hope I am not that big of a problem." **For your sake kid, I hope so too.**

 **One month later**

Gus was insane. In jobs he runs in without thinking and though the job gets done, there is always a mess. Not too mention there were always buttons at each scene. Buttons. Buttons. Buttons. In his pockets he fills it with buttons from wherever he could find them. On the dead targets, on people walking past, in the trash. Something about buttons seems to make him happy. One thing I did notice is that he never took a button from me or anyone here at S.E.A. I once even dropped a button in front of him and all he did was step on it and keep walking. I guess even he could be picky.

Today we had no mission and so Gus and I were in my apartment lounging around. He had started staying with me for about a week, sleeping on my couch, while the Heads were finding him a place. For as weird as he is, he was an excellent assassin. He was fast and those eyes have helped us out in more ways then one. We have only had five jobs together and already the Heads are preparing him to be on his own. He requested somewhere close to me. "Odaaaa, I 'm bored."

I pointed my knife at him. "I told you to stop saying that twenty minutes ago. If you are so bored then go out and do something." I really hoped his request was denied.

He pouted and took out his 9 mm semi-automatic handgun. Unlike Li and me, Gus was one of the assassins who uses guns. He loved them and one would call him trigger happy, shooting anything he could. He caused a lot of damage with that and it was his favorite threatening tactic. "Come on Oda, let's do something." His eyes were challenging me and even with the gun pointed at me, it just made me feel even more annoyed. "GET THE HELL OUT BRAT!"

At first Gus was frozen with shock. This was the first time I raised my voice like that. He did put the gun away and then ran out my door. I sighed with relief when another thorn to my head made an appearance. "Be nice to your pupil." Li snickered, entering through the window. He took Gus's spot on the couch. "Or you can just do what Doc told you to do."

I shook my head. " _If he does not meet your standards in a month then kill him"_ I quoted. "As if I was going to do that."

"I guess I can kind of see you in him but you weren't that stupid nit wit." Li hated Gus and I think it was vice versa; Gus acts the same to everyone. This whole month I could not do any missions with Li and for some reason he was pissed by that.

"I did not shoot anything I found and I spent my times trying to get away from you."

He laughed and moved closer. "That obviously did you no good." He leaned in but before he could kiss me I pushed him away. "What the fuck do you think you are doing?"

"I wanted to try again." I jumped up. "Don't be stupid. As if I will repeat any of that." I finally got over my relapse and this dumbass is trying to bring it back. I don't want what happened to happen again. "You know what will happen if you kiss me."

He glared at his hands. "Yeah. The man you tried so hard to forget will not be so forgotten anymore." He started chuckling but it sounded sinister. "You know Oda, Ritsu, you are weak. Just how much love did you have for this one boy that you remembered him after 9 times? You know what the problem is: You haven't accepted this life. You may be the best but what is the point if it is obvious you would rather be dead than here with us."

"Your damn right!" First Gus and now Li; I did not need this right now. "You really think I just woke up and said "hey, let's be an assassin." I was forced into this hell with no escape. I hate everything about S.E.A. and one day I hope it dies out in the worst way." I want it to burn. I want everyone and everything that involved S.E.A. to disappear forever. Li stared at me for a second when all of a sudden there was lust in them. **The hell?** "Ritsu, your murderous gaze turns me on. Even when you say things you are not supposed to."

"And there you go saying stupid things." There proves my one theory. Li and I have not had sex since my last relapse. He tried three months ago but I pushed him away and now having Gus he has no opportunities to be alone with me. I honestly could care less, as long as he did not kiss me.

He got off the couch, looking at me as if I was some kind of prey. "Only to you." He wrapped his arms around me, rubbing all over my body. I felt nothing. Yes I could feel the pleasure but it was not a "wow" sensation like it was before. It was simply for release. Before he could place his lips on my neck my door swung open. "Odddaaaaaa." We both turned to Gus. "Oh, was I interrupting something?"

Li growled loudly in my ear, cussing. "Nothing you damn idiot. Goddamn it!" He kept cussing as he jumped out my window and into his apartment, shutting the window quite harshly. I felt a sense of peace with him gone but that was gone the minute I turned to Gus's large smile. Wait, it's larger than usual. "Li doesn't like me."

"Pretty much." I went to make some food.

"You don't like Li."

"Pretty much."

"So why do you let him use you?" I froze, turning back to him. For once his smile was gone and the most serious look on his face appeared. He never looked like this even on jobs. "Why do you give him that control over your body?"

 **What did he know?** "I don't know what you are talking about Gus." I waited for him to speak but when he did not I continued grabbing the leftover mash potatoes and turkey from yesterday and heated it up. As I waited I felt Gus right next to me. "I want S.E.A. to burn as well." It was sudden. I almost did not hear it. Gus's smile returned as he skipped to my fridge.

 **Seven months later**

"Oda! Oda! Oda!" I ran to the door before Gus could knock on it again. When I saw him he held up a movie called 28 Days Later and two popcorn bags. "Movie night!"

"You don't need to be so loud." I hushed and let him in. He said nothing as he went to the kitchen and started heating up the popcorn.

Weird right? Two men, two assassins, two killers, about to have a movie night. Seems too normal for people like us right? Well ya, it is, but it is this normalness that I crave. It all started after Gus accidentally (which I found out that is was intentional) stopped Li from having sex with me. Ever since Gus has been getting me to do this type of stuff. Two weeks ago he made me take him to the park and I had to push him on the swing. Embarrassing. Some woman even came over and asked we were related and before I could answer Gus called me his brother. With all the lectures I had to give him over the months I guess I would have that elder authority.

"Hurry up Ritsu." Yes, during month five I told him my name. That month Gus had a breakdown. The smile he had was a cover for the pain and anger he felt inside. There was so much. It started with a job to kill a woman who has been killing and stealing money. Gus was the one to kill her, one clean shot to the head, and then we found out later that that women was pregnant. Gus lost it. He destroyed his apartment across from mine and spent all his time in the shooting range, hitting not just the targets but the ceiling, walls, and even aimed it at other assassins. I had to take the gun and tie him to a chair just to talk to him.

That's when he told me that his mother was a spy for British government but was shot and killed while the two were out shopping. He was five at the time. The buttons were his way of coping, since his mother also loved to collect them. He admitted that he knew his father but had to stay away for some reason and his records were wiped after his mother's death so that is why S.E.A. thought of him as an orphan. We had a long talk, me telling him in vague details of my father who forced him to be an assassin and my relapses. I told him my name was Ritsu and he said his name was Gustavo.

It was obvious we both hated S.E.A. and through that we bonded. Now we were having movie nights at least once every other week after a job or on a day off. When it was the two of us there was no talk of S.E.A. and that was nice. "So this is a really scary movie about zombies." Gus explained, messing with his voice to try and sound creepy.

I rolled my eyes. "Zombies aren't real."

"Says you." When the popcorn was done he put the bowls on my coffee table and put the movie in the DVD. "One more thing." He went to my window and closed it, locked it, and pulled the drape over. After the first time when Li crashed the party Gus made sure that Li would come nowhere near us. "Now the movie."

An hour in and I thought this movie was ridiculous. Sure there were lost of blood and action but it was not scary and I like the zombies in Resident Evil. They were slow as hell. Gus was laughing every time a zombie got killed or someone got eaten. It got to the point I warned him I was going to duct tape his mouth. When the movie was over Gus was still chuckling. "Only you would laugh when the zombies went after the girls."

"It was funny to hear them speak."

"That's how you talk."

"Touche." We both were laughing at this point and when we both stopped I heard Gus sigh. "Ritsu, I work for a company run by America and part of Europe that is determined to take down S.E.A." **What? Did I just hear that right?** I thought it was a joke but Gus had on his rare serious face. He continued, "My father is actually one of the benefactors of that company and I volunteered myself to be an agent with them. I have been training to handle weapons and situations ever since I was eight.

My mother was also part of this company and because of that an S.E.A. member had killed her. I hated S.E.A. I wanted to destroy every one of them. When my bosses started to make this plan I jumped at the opportunity. I wanted S.E.A. to burn from the inside out and everyone associated to go to hell where they belong." He then smile at me. "Well, not everyone."

I had to take a few breaths before I spoke again. "Why are you telling me this?" This was serious information. If it was any other assassin Gus would have been killed on the spot.

He shrugged. "When I first started I thought I could do this on my own and trick all of you. After that mission with the woman…I lost it. I fell apart. I almost abandoned the mission. But you helped me. You could have ignored me or even killed me like The Doctor told you to but you did not. I analyzed almost every assassin here and you are the only one who stands out. You are said to be the best killer but if not for our first job I would not have believed it. Ritsu, you don't want to be an assassin. You said it yourself you were forced."

"So?"

"I'm not asking for your help to take down S.E.A. I would never ask something of that from you, but I also know there is something that you know that no one else does. Can you please share everything you know? I also want to know more about you."

I really don't know what drove me to tell him. He was nice? He made me feel more than a killer? Or the fact that part of me had some sort of hope that S.E.A. could really be taken down. That night I told him everything. About my father, The Doctor, and even all the relapse sessions I had to go through. That night I spoke more about my true self, me, Onodera Ritsu, and not as Oda.

When I was done he was smiling brightly and surprised me with a hug. "I promise Ritsu, I'll shut down S.E.A. and save you from this hellhole."

I was going to say something when I heard a lot of skittering sounds and looked to see a handful of buttons that fell from his pockets and on to the grounds. "Whoops."

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO KEEP THEM IN YOUR POCKETS." Why could he not listen to me on this? He waved me off as he started picking them up. Watching him, an idea popped in my head and I got up. Going into my kitchen I rummaged through the cabinets before finding what I needed and walked back to him. "Here."

He looked at the jar weirdly. It was a large mason jar I once got but never found a use for it. "You keep dropping those stupid buttons and it is getting on my nerves so here, a starter jar. You should really invest in these." He looked back at the jar and his eyes lit up. He dumped the buttons in his pants in the jar, filling it up a quarter of the way. "Thank you Ritsu!" He smiled and reached for my coat, pulling off a button. "What the hell?"

He dropped the brown button in with a thud. "I never took a button from you before."

"Why now?"

"Because you are not S.E.A."


	19. Chapter 12: One step Forward

I have been on edge since seeing that boy in Ritsu's place. My brain was working double time with hundred of questions running through it. I felt farther away from Ritsu now more than ever, like the year together meant nothing. I tried drowning myself in work, the only way I could really distract myself, when an hour passed and someone knocked on my door. Opening it, I was surprised to see the boy Gus standing there with a smile. "Ah you really did live next door?"

"Can I help you?" **Who are you to Ritsu? How long have you known Ritsu?**

"I have to go to work now so I have to leave Ritsu by himself." And he is telling me this why? "He still is sick and I don't feel relaxed leaving him by himself. I know you care for him so I was wondering if you can look after him for awhile. He said he had work to do so you can help him with that."

The smile was too big. Of course I would go to Ritsu's but first I needed some information. I had a bunch of questions but I could tell I was not going to get much right now. So I sighed, "Gus…is Ritsu in trouble?"

Gus's smile dimmed down a bit and he looked to the buttons. "You know Takano-san, I don't know you but I do know you are someone important to my brother so I can trust you. You do have a lot of questions but I'm afraid none of them can be answered."

I clenched my fist. "Will I have to say goodbye to Ritsu?" That was the one question I wanted answered the most. I don't know how I would react if I had to say goodbye to him after all this time. It would break my heart.

Gus looked up with the most serious face I have ever seen on him. "I will do everything I can so that does not happen. And I know Ritsu is going to do the same thing. He has a lot of problems and he may act tough, Ritsu is actually extremely insecure and scared of his past. We didn't live squeaky clean lives. Far from it and for your safety I can't tell you anything." Scared of his past? Just what did happen to him? Obvious there was some illegal activity with the way things are going but I wanted the full truth. "I know this must be frustrating. And I'm not helping anything. I just hope you can trust _me_ enough to listen to what I said."

What choice did I have? He seemed real and I guess Ritsu trusted him enough to let him in the house. Gus was different from the other foreigner in there. "Yes. For Ritsu I'll trust you."

He smiled and turned. "I left the door unlike for you. Just remember to lock it."

"Sure."

"I mean it." The serious face returned. "Oh yeah." He turned back and rustled through his pocket before pulling out a blank note card with a number on it. "This is my number. If you could, if anything, or anyone, comes over that you do not know, text me the word "here." And I will be here in less than ten minutes."

"Someone will come over?" I suspected he was talking about the Chinese man.

Gus nodded. "Like I said, our job is trying to kill Ritsu. They would not kill you but just for precaution. Especially if it is a man named Li. You can't let him take Ritsu." I nodded, putting his number in my pocket. "What if…" I looked up and he was gone, the elevator doors already closing. **He was fast.**

I decided to grab some of my work, and Ritsu's, and headed over. "Ritsu?"

"Takano!?" Ritsu was sitting on the ground with storyboards spread out on the coffee table. He looked much better than this morning. He was still in the clothes and his hair was messed up but his eyes were not as red anymore. In his hand was a red pen. "How did you get in?"

"Your door was unlocked. I've told you time and time again to lock it." I figured Gus would not want Ritsu to know he went to him. "I got your work that you missed today and now I can see you are more than fine to do them."

"Of course I am!" It was nice to see Ritsu's feisty attitude. I placed the work on the table and sat down across from him. "What are you doing?"

"I have work to and I need these by today so it's better if I just stay here. Plus you were sick this morning so I need to make sure you don't keel over."

Ritsu blushed. "I'm fine now." I did not reply as we started working. "I'm sorry." He broke the silence. His face down. "I was not in the best mood."

 ** _Saga-senpai no longer exists._** Why would he say that? Did someone tell him that before? "It's alright. Everyone has an off day." And whoever drugged him I hope that person burns in hell. He nodded and went back to working. The rest of the day was dedicated to getting everything done. When we finished, well finished for that day, Ritsu stretched and leaned against the couch. "Why do I feel so tired?"

"Because working when you are sick is actually not a good thing." He glared at me. "And who came to give me more work?" I chuckled and got up to go to his kitchen. "What are you doing?"

"We need to eat." I opened his fridge. **Why did I even try?** Nothing was in here except stupid microwave meals. "Come on, I have some miso soup we can eat." Without waiting, I grabbed his hand and pulled him to my place, surprised all I got was a shocked "Takano" but nothing else. When I looked back I was rewarded to a pouting face. I let go of him in my kitchen and went to prepare the miso soup. He was still standing in the same spot I left him at and watched me cook.

I wanted to ask him. I had so many things on the tip of my tongue, but the fascinated eyes that watched my movement and the fact we finally could spend time like this with just the two of us, stopped me. We lightly chatted about work, some of the authors, and even that it was starting to get warmer. While eating we sat in a comfortable silence, much different from the other times.

He offered to do the dishes but did not want my help. "You're being nice." I commented.

"Well…you did cook for me." I let him finished before I walked over to wrap my arms around him. This is where he belonged. I expected a fight but he gave me none. I should be happy but after these past few weeks, I knew there was something else.

"Ritsu, I love you."

"I know."

"Do you love me?"

 **RITSU**

"Do you love me?"

 **Yes.** "Why are you asking me that?"

"I don't want to lose you." I was taken back by the shakiness of his tone. "I know something is going on that you will not tell me about and I am okay with that. Just as long as I don't have to say goodbye."

"What if you had to?" I asked without thinking. It was a possibility. I did briefly think that if S.E.A. did anything else to me I would have to relocate. It was the only way that kept me out of any sort of fight. It was cowardly but what other choice did I have? If Li found out about Takano I could only imagine what they would do to him.

I was spun around quickly and forced to look into his eyes. They were hard with anger and fear. "If you leave me again I would chase you down. I would stop at nothing until I found you again. Not even if it took the rest of my life."

"You…You don't mean that." "What makes you say that?" He narrowed his eyes and leaned in. I could feel his breath on my face. "Don't take my love for granted." He kissed me forcefully. I grunted into the kiss but I ended up opening my mouth and he shoved his tongue in. We kissed until I had to pull back for air.

It was incredible. The electricity that went through my body by even a single touch from him was amazing. It actually made me feel...alive. I wanted more. I _needed_ more. Takano was going to say something but I cut him off, kissing him.

His hands went to my ass and he lifted me up so I could wrap my legs around his waist tightly. He broke the kiss but went to my neck, nipping and sucking a particularly spot that made me moan out loud. I did not even try to suppress them.

He threw me on his bed, taking off his shirt before joining me. "Takano."

"Ritsu." All clothes came off, tossed somewhere into the dark room. "Takano." I moaned as he sucked my cock. My hands flew to his hair. My back arched from the pleasure. "Not...yet…going to…cum." I heard him chuckle but he kept going. I quickly pushed him off. "Ritsu?" He looked at me with confusion until I pulled him back up for another kiss. "I want you."

I wanted to say something when he pulled away to grab the lube but I kept my mouth shut. This was his way of caring for me, to be as gentle as he could with me. The roughness I used to love was only because I was looking for pleasure. It was something I could actually feel. With Takano, the gentleness was even more amazing. He lubed of his cock but before he could enter, I sat up and flipped Takano over. "Why Ritsu?"

That was a good question. Every other time I just followed his lead. Takano is always making the first move and dealing with me, maybe it was time for me to do something for him. So instead of answering, I grabbed his cock and guided it to my entrance, pushing it in. His face was priceless. His eyes were clouded with lust and mouth was hung up. I lifted my hips up until just the tip was inside and then slammed down, moaning when I was able to hit my prostate. He moaned loudly, his hands traveling all over my body as I rode him.

"I love you Ritsu. So fucking much." He says that too many times. Each time made my heart flutter. It had me speeding up. Are breathing became quicker, moans louder, until one last thrust I felt him cum inside me. I came not a second later, dirtying his chest.

My legs were shaking as I lifted off of him. Falling down next to him, he pulled me close. I held him tightly, not caring about the sticky substance all over us. "I love you." He repeated yet again. I had the urge to cry but instead buried my face into his neck. "I love you."

"I heard you the first time."

He kissed my forehead. "And you will hear it many more times." I felt my cheeks heat up. "I love you."

"I…" I stopped. I chickened out. There was an uncomfortable paused before he sighed. "I know you do." **Damnit! Why can't I say it? It is true! I love you Takano!** "We should get some sleep. Unless you are not going to work tomorrow?"

"No I am. I can't afford to get behind on anything."

"You are far from behind." I heard him yawn. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I waited about an hour, just to be sure, and then turned my body so I could look him in the face. It was the only thing I could do to convince myself that this was not a dream. I knew what I wanted; as an assassin, there should be nothing in the way of getting what I want. And if there was I would destroy it. So why can't I now?

Gus was right. I was not truly done with the S.E.A. I don't think I ever really will be. Like a scar on my body it will stay there forever, reminding me of what happened, but did that mean I could not accept the scar and move on? Could I not find the lesson from my experience and change my life?

Takano made a small noise, pulling me closer to him. Words could not explain the emotion in me from being so close to him. He made me feel whole. No one else would ever make me feel this way, I was sure of that.

S.E.A. would always be part of me, but I think…I think I can move on, as long as Takano was with me always. "Ritsu." He breathed out. I thought he was awake but the steady breathing said otherwise.

 **It was time to let go.** I leaned in to kiss his cheek. Ever so softly I whispered, "I love you Takano."


	20. Chapter 13: Two Steps Back

**Just had to ali5tvd ^_^**

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Ritsu seemed…different. This morning he woke up before me and was in my kitchen trying to cook, keyword trying. The kitchen was a complete mess; broken eggs scattered on my counters, dish after dish was in my sink, no doubt from previous fails. Even Ritsu, who wore one of my aprons, was destroyed and his face had a look of worry on it. He jumped when I appeared. "Takano? I didn't hear you wake up." He blushed and looked around at the mess. "I swear I will clean this up." I was still in shock that I almost forgot how to speak. "Takano?"

"What are you doing?"

"Well…I…I wanted to prove to you that I actually am not incapable in the kitchen. I can survive if I got the time."

"And this morning you did?" This was early for him. Usually I had to wake his ass up and even then it was a challenge for him to get out of bed.

"Yes I did." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. I smiled, it was something Ritsu would do. Taking advantage of the new change, I walked over and wrapped my arms around him. He did jump and I was expecting him to tell me to get off, when, "Takano, the apron is dirty. Can't you wait until I am wearing cleaner clothes?" No rejection. Not even a 'get off.' "Now come on, the food will get cold and we have to get to work soon."

We ate in silence but instead of the awkward silence from before, there was a different mood. It was light, more comfortable. "I can do the dishes while you get ready." He got up to grab my plate but instead I grabbed his hand and pulled him down on to my lap. "Taka—." I did not let him finish as I kissed him. It was more like a test, and I waited for him to try and get away, but I got none of that.

He moaned into the kiss, wrapping his arms around my neck. It was strange but I was not going to let this new attitude go to waste. The new attitude brought us back into the bedroom and a few minutes later we were lying there, naked, cuddling with each other.

"We have to work." He sighed. "And now I bet we will be late."

"I am the boss." He chuckled, snuggling closer to me. As much as I wanted to stay like that we really did have to go to work. I sat up and handed him is shirt while putting on mine.

"I don't know how to be in a relationship." I didn't look back, just waited for him to continue. "I was taught that getting close to someone is a bad thing. That the only reason to get close was to gain something from the other. And then I started not to trust anyone and started to put all my focus into work. I thought it was working but then I came here and you ruined everything." There was a chuckle in his voice. "I was scared when I found out you were Senpai. You were the one person I had ever had so much feelings for, so much trust, and when I heard you laugh, it shattered."

"RItsu I'm s…" "I know most of it was my fault too. I overreacted. I think deep down I was already expecting you to toss me aside. I was nothing special and I knew you were already really popular with girls. So with that laugh, it confirmed everything I expected but I was not ready to face it. Sorry about that kick. I do remember it, after you said something, it was the first time I ever did that."

I laughed at that. "It hurt like hell."

"You deserved it." I turned around then, facing him. He was looking back at me with a smile. It was a rare, genuine one, one that I only saw when he was with books. The same one he always had on in high school. "Why now?" Sure it was a dream come true but after all that has happened it could not be a coincidence.

He shrugged. "I always felt this way…okay maybe not always...but when I did, I was just too afraid of repeating what happened and I don't think I could last going through it again."

"Ritsu we were young and naïve. We were not even that close, Oda." He made a face. "But now things are way different. We have grown closer than what we were. We have matured, we know better. I'm scared too but because I love you I will do everything in my power so that we stay together. The problem is: I can't do this alone."

He did not say anything for a while. Instead he started getting dressed again. When we both were fully dressed he walked over to stand in front of me. A large blush on his face. "I'm scared."

I put my hand on his face. "I know." I swear my heart could jump out of my body right now.

"I have a lot of issues."

"So do I."

"There are things about me that you don't know. Things that would change your perception of me."

I sighed, "I doubt that." Not saying this will not be challenging; the mysterious ten years of Ritsu's past is obviously something that will be a major setback. For now I just have to do the best I can to show Ritsu that he can and will have a future with me, no matter what. "Whatever you are dealing with, I will be there for you."

"How can you say that?" It looked like he was still in denial.

I kissed his forehead, holding him close. "That is what you do for the person you love." We kissed again, much gentler than before but equally passionate. "Ritsu, will you accept me?"

"...Yes."

"Takano-san looks too happy." I heard Kisa whisper to Ritsu. "What did you do?"

Ritsu blushed and shook his head. "How should I know?" In all honesty I was on cloud nine. After a year Ritsu had finally started to fully accept our relationship. Sure he had yet to say 'I love you' but I could live with that, for now. Throughout work I was getting weird looks from everyone on my staff a few other editors, even when Yokozawa passed by he was taken back by my smile but figured it out pretty quickly when he looked to Ritsu. He shook his head, giving a light scoff before leaving.

Work passed by in no time, thankfully. All I thought about was taking Ritsu back home and having my way with him. Hatori had already left, Mino and Kisa was saying goodbye, and Ritsu walked over to me. "I have to go to Mutou-sensei's to get the rest of the storyboard. I guess the internet is down so she can't send anything over here." **Stupid internet.**

"I can come with you."

"No, it will be really quick. She will be meeting me at a café ten minutes away from here. I still have to speak to her about them so I won't be done for at least another hour. I don't want to take up your time."

"As long as I can be with you."

He glared. "That smile of yours has been creepy. I thought you would at least toned it down at work."

"How could I? The most wonderfullest thing in my entire life happened today." He blushed again and looked away. He was cute when flustered. "Well, it's not necessary for you to go."

I guess like he said before, Ritsu could not concentrate on his work with me around (I would like to hope) so I guess I could let him go, but not without getting something out of it. "Fine. I won't go but you have to come to my apartment for dinner and spend the night."

The blush got large and I could see it travel down his neck. I wanted to see his whole body blushing. "I… was going to do that anyway." His reply made me smirk and I just had to kiss him. "Not at work."

"I love you."

He opened his mouth but closed it quickly. "Yeah." With that he rushed out, leaving me alone. **So close.** Well now my mood was down. The walk home was lonely without Ritsu but I tried thinking about having dinner with him tonight. I could make him one of his favorites as a treat, if I knew what those were. He likes hamburgers so maybe I can make some of those. And Then I can take him to my room and have my way with him all night.

I did not start cooking when I got home. I cleaned up a little bit first, making a note to wash my sheets…tomorrow. I headed for the kitchen when there was a knock at the door. **He's early. I should make him a key.**

Opening the door, my smile left my face when I saw the Chinese foreigner, Li I think, standing there with a lopsided grin. "Yo."

"What are you doing here?"

"I was just looking for Ritsu. I tried his door and his phone but I can't get a hold of him." **Ritsu is getting a new phone…and a restraining order for this guy.** Gus did tell me this guy was going to try and take Ritsu and that he was dangerous. If only I had my phone in my hand instead of leaving it in the kitchen. "Last I checked he was heading to the library after work." I lied. The library was in the opposite direction so he should not run into Ritsu and it would give me a chance to inform Gus.

Li nodded, "Well darn."

My hand went to the doorknob. "Well, if that is all…"

"Takano, right?" I froze. "Takano Masamune."

"How do you know my name?"

His grin turned into a full smile. "I have my ways. It's a nice name but I think I like your old one better. Wasn't it: Saga Masamune?"

 **RITSU**

I stretched in the elevator. Mutou-sensei was going through something because after I made a simple suggestion she went off on me in the café! It was hard to calm her down until an hour later when I finally told her I would leave it the way it was. Horrible promise because Takano could change it if he wanted to. Speaking of him, work was a nightmare. That smile of his was out of place and I had to deal with Kisa's teasing. I guess he has reason to be happy but could he not hide it a little bit at work. Thinking of this morning I could feel my cheeks heat up.

A relationship. With Takano. It was scary. Just imagine what if my father or Li found out. Well, maybe I would be lucky enough to be disowned and then I would have nothing to do with that family or S.E.A. Of course he could also send people to take me out. Now I was siking myself out. Doubt was beginning to cloud my mind.

 **Calm down Ritsu. I can call Gus and get advice from him. He has a relationship too, he can help.** I got to Takano's front door and had to take a few breaths. He would surely know something is wrong with me if I show it. That was also going to be a tough topic to bring up. He said nothing would change how he saw me but I think he thinks I was in some sort of gang rather than a full fledged killer. **I'll deal with it later.** I knocked on his door. I did not hear any footsteps so I knocked again.

This was strange, usually he would answer on the first set. Trying his door I found it unlocked. Now I was on alert. "Takano?" The light in the kitchen was on, Takano's coat was still on his couch and his phone was on the kitchen table. "Takano?" I ran into his bathroom and bedroom to find no sign of him. "Takano! TAKANO!"

I was about to run out when something on his coffee table. It was a piece of paper that when I looked closely I slammed my fists on the table.

 _Talk to you soon Oda._


	21. Chapter 14: Captured

"Ritsu calm down!" Gus waved his hands in the air as I paced. "We will get Takano back."

"I should have left. I should have left the minute Li came into my life."

"That would have solved nothing."

"That sick bastard has Takano." I fell to my couch. Gus patted my back. "He must have figured out that Takano was important to you." Of course he did. "Let's just calm down and figure out our next move."

I kept shaking my head. Something did not sit right with me. "I thought the S.E.A. never did anything like this."

Gus sighed. "I admit this is out of character, even for the S.E.A." He started thinking. "It must have something to do with the announcement they made."

"Announcement?"

"Yeah. Your father and the other Heads announced that S.E.A. was soon going to change management. Two of the Heads were found dead and your father is said to be retiring." Dead? Retiring?! "Get this: The Doctor is taking a spot and so is Li, guess who the third person is."

"Me?" Are you serious? After all this time father still wanted me to take over? Why could he not disown me and leave me alone. "Why am I so important?"

"It's more like your heir is important. We did some research and the Onodera's have been the longest standing members of the S.E.A. That is why your father is considered the top Head. If you do not take over the Onodera looses that power."

"And it is just a coincidence that two other Heads were killed at the same time."

Gus nodded. "The Doctor can keep a close eye on you and they probably think Li can change you back to the way you were."

"And more therapy sessions." My hands balled into fists. I hated S.E.A. Still trying to control me for their own benefits. I was sick of this. "Gus, we got to get Takano back."

"We will." Gus's phone went off and he got up to answer. I tried listening in but looking around Takano's apartment had me thinking about him, worrying. Not only was Takano somewhere with Li, but he would surely tell him all about S.E.A. Takano would know about me being a killer and Li could also tell him about me and him. I feared what Takano would think once he found out what I did with Li. I just hoped Takano did not hate me after all this happened.

And if he did not, then what? S.E.A. needed to be taken down and as long as my father was part of it, I would never be left alone. They had to be taken down. "Ritsu." I looked up at Gus. "I don't want to force you."

I smiled, I had to. Gus still was giving me the choice even though he knew what I was going to chose. They took Takano. That was the last straw. Standing up, I picked up the piece of paper Li left and crumbled it. "Let's do this."

 **Takano**

When I came to the first thing that registered was the pain in my head. I tried to lift my hand but found my body tied with rope. **Where was I?** The column I was on was cold on my back. That asshole… "So you finally woke up. It's not like I hit you that hard." I glared at Li, who was standing in front of me. "I guess I am being rude. My name is Li."

"I know who you are." I spat. He looked surprised but then chuckled. "Of course you do. Did our dear Oda tell you? Oops, I should call him Ritsu but since we both know him as Oda then there's no secret there, right? It's funny we both had to find out later what his real name was." As he spoke I looked around to find us in some sort of warehouse. "This is property of the S.E.A. It is used for…interrogations, if that is what you can call this."

"S.E.A.?" What the hell was that? Li blinked. "So he didn't tell you after all. Well Saga you are in for a treat." He walked over and crouched down to be at my level. "I get to tell you all about our little Oda."

Ten years ago there was a boy named Onodera Ritsu who thanks to his father, was forced to leave his normal life, and the boy who broke his heart, and join the family business. Not the public business, Onodera Publication, but a secret organization called the S.E.A., Society of Elite Assassins." I gasped. "Ritsu, who used the code name Oda, was forced to forget everything about the boy through electroshock therapy that went on for almost a year. From then on he became the most feared, most skilled assassin in the company. He was good, until the memories of that boy started coming back and more electroshock therapy took place. Soon his father realized that the therapy would not make Oda forget the boy. He realized Oda held too much feelings for him so they took the therapy up a notch. Pure torture. They starved him, sliced him, and suffocated him. They made sure he would be so scarred that not even his brain would want to remember that pathetic boy: Saga-senpai."

Ritsu? An assassin? _That_ was the big secret? I could not imagine it. My Ritsu would never hurt a fly, well, so I thought. It was kind of nice to hear Ritsu did not want to forget me but still disturbing to hear that the electrocuted and tortured him. I wanted to throw up just by imagining it. He had to have been in so much pain.

"He seemed to have gotten better but at the same time worse. The memory went away for good and Oda was back to killing, but there was something off. All feelings left him except for one: anger. He started to hate the S.E.A. For two years this went on until one last mission Oda snapped. A month later, he was gone." At least Ritsu hated being there. "You see Saga, there is one basic rule to follow in S.E.A.: never fall in love. Love is weakness, love is worthless, love will get you killed. Oda did not want to follow this rule any longer but even now if you can see it is not something you can simply forget."

So this whole year all was because of this stupid company? I knew he loved me but I only took his hesitation as not wanting to repeat the past. Now I see he was still fearful of the pain they inflicted upon him. Damn them. "I really hate you."

"The feelings are mutual."

His eyes narrowed. "You're the reason Oda won't come back. He is the future leader of the company and the greatest assassin there was. He could do great things but thanks to some high school fling his mind is altered."

"Ritsu is much better with me than the likes of you. This society is not somewhere he belongs. He is not a killer."

"Oh come on." He laughed loudly. "Oda is going to come here and when he walks through that door who do you think will appear? The shy, book loving 15 year old Oda, or the assassin Oda."

I growled. "Neither. Through that door will be Onodera Ritsu. Someone who had to deal with so much in the ten years that would make even the strongest men fall. The man who after everything that happened still looks to the future. I never expected him to be something…like this…but who does? The only thing we can do is work it together one day at a time. I've seen the real Ritsu, not the one wearing a mask. He is brave, he is a hard worker, and he puts others before him and never gives up. The real Ritsu is someone not to take for granted and if you so much as lay one finger on Rit…" I was cut off when he hit a knife right beside my face; it made a clanging sound on the metal. His face was filled with rage and his hand on the knife was shaking. I probably would have been scared but I bet my face mirrored his. I was just as angry.

We had a staring contest when an idea flashed across his face and he smirked. "When was the last time you fucked him?"

"Excuse me?" He pulled back, the knife disappearing into his pocket. "When was the last time you fucked him? And don't lie. Was it recently? Was it last night?"

"Why the fuck would I ever tell you?" I had a feeling I was not going to like where this was going. Why would he ask me such unless… "For me it was two years ago." My eyes went wide. So, he and Ritsu…no. "Weren't expecting that one huh? Just because we can't love there's nothing stopping us from sex. All sex is is pleasure. And I got a lot from Oda."

My fists clenched and I grinded my teeth together. "Is he still a masochist? He loved it when I would bit his nipples and squeeze his cock."

"Shut up."

"Does he still talk dirty? Oh the things he would say during our fucking would turn me on."

"Shut up."

"When he would beg me to pound him with no preparation."

"Shut up!"

"The way he moaned my name 'Li.'"

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" It was vile to hear him talking about Ritsu like this. It was degrading. I did not want to hear it; I did not want to believe it.

The smirk was still on his face. "Does not really fit the perfect picture you were painting does it? Now tell me about your wonderful Ritsu."

I could not get that image out of my head no matter how many times I tried. I could not get mad about the sex since it was not like I was practicingcelibacy during the last ten years but he had sex with this man. He talked about Ritsu like he was a piece of meat. Just why would Ritsu do something like that with someone like him? Was Ritsu also craving sex or did Li force him?

"Oda let me do anything I wanted." **God does he ever shut up?** "Of course he wanted it too. Sometimes we would have sex three times a week. It was great." The face he made probably was pissing me off the most. He looked to staring far off into the distance and his smile was a gentle one, if that was possible. He looked like someone…in love? "Going with him on missions, seeing the way he did great without even trying, his attitude, the sex, Oda really was a one of a kind agent." His face turned sour. "And then that stupid British kid had to come around and steal all of Oda's attention. I know they assigned him to watch the brat but then Oda found himself spending more time with him. It would not surprise me if Oda was fucking him too."

I could not believe that he and Gus had anything going on. Gus looked at Ritsu as a brother. It was obvious he was trying to keep Ritsu out of this. "All that is next is killing you and bringing Oda back home."

"You really think killing me would get Ritsu to go back?" Sure I was scared for my life but I had to have faith in Ritsu.

"It will be tough but with you out of the picture there is nothing stopping Oda to join us. You are the only reason he is refusing. A few more electroshock therapies should clear his mind of you and have him focus on running S.E.A. with me."

"Ritsu will never go back." Li smirked. "We'll see."


	22. Chapter 15: Breaking In

**So many knives.** We were at Gus's place, a small, run-down apartment in a red light district. When I asked him why he was staying here he replied that the Tokyo branch thought it was a good cover. Inside he took out two suitcases filled with guns and one with an array of knives that I recognized as mine. "When you left I was able to take your knives. Li threw a fit but since I was your "pupil" they let me have them." Gus smiled, loading up one of his handguns. "Headquarters informed me Li is holding Mr. Takano at the warehouse in Kamakura. It won't take long to get there but we have to figure out what to do when we get there."

"There should be guards then. I remember the warehouses usually had about ten guards on watch and a security system." The warehouses, for lack of a better name, were places we did heavy negotiations with certain targets. They usually ended up dead.

Gus nodded. "Right about that but this warehouse is a special one. Most of S.E.A.'s cargo and weapons go through this warehouse. Control of this warehouse is crucial for taking down the Tokyo branch. It is going to be tough. All the guards are assassins and we have been trying to hack the system for a few days now. My tech friend Kyle can disarm it but he estimates about a two hour time period before the backup system takes over. In that time we have to get in, kill the guards, defeat Li, save Mr. Takano, and get out. All of this without dying."

I sighed. "No pressure right." I looked back at the knives. "I know you don't want to but I'm glad you are here. With you here I don't feel so anxious. I'm excited." He pointed his gun at the ceiling with a smile. I agreed with him. I don't know what I would do without Gus. My attention turned back to the knives as I picked up my favorite. Father gave it to me as a 16th birthday gift. The handle was gold and had an intricate design. The blade was only about six inches long but it was one of the sharpest knives I owned.

"You ready?" Gus was already in his dark apparel, handing Ritsu a plastic bag. Ritsu opened it to find clothing in there, a style close to the one he had before.

Looking back at the knife in my hand I smiled. "Let's do this."

Gus smiled. "Alright!"

"Leave the buttons!"

We arrived at the warehouse at 10 at night. It looked like an ordinary, empty gray building with no windows and the only lights coming from the small lamps hanging along the side. No one was out front but it was obvious they were watching from the shadows. "There's a roof access in the back." Gus laid out a layout of the place on the ground. "That will be our entrance. Once inside we will have to deal with guards here, here, and here. My guess is they are keeping Mr. Takano in the interrogation room on the East end." He circled a large room labeled "interrogations" with his fingers.

"Is there a ventilation system?" He nodded, pointing to it. "There's a way in through the side. It's the easiest way to get in and we should not be detected. You said your friend can disable the security system?"

"Yes but we have will have a two hour window. You have to secure Mr. Takano before that." I nodded. He handed me an ear piece. "Hear, I can communicate with you through this."

"What will you be doing?"

Gus smiled, taking his gun out. "I have my own mission here. You leave the guards to me. From the way I see it, I have the easier task." **Don't remind me.** I have gone up against assassins before but this is Li we are talking about. There is no telling what he might do. "Security system will go down in three…two…one…now." Gus set his watch. "Let's go."

We ran to the back, reaching the side. The ventilation shoot sticking upwards. "You first." I held my hands together and knelt down to boost Gus up. Once he was in I ran up the wall and jumped, barely making it. I gotta start working out again.

Making it inside the building, the hall they were down was dark with no other presence. Gus was leading us down one hall when we stopped, hearing noise around a corner. It was mindless talk and we continued on when it died out. "The interrogation room will be straight down that way."

"Where you heading?"

He smiled. "Cargo bay. Good luck Oda."

"You too." Just as we were about to part ways Gus's watch started to beep loudly. "What's going on?" He looked down and gasped. "Oh shit. The system rebooted early."

That was an 'oh shit.' "How long do we have now?"

"One second."

 **TAKANO**

I was startled by the loud, obnoxious beeping sound. Li looked up and snickered. "Tripping the alarm? He is still rusty." He? Ritsu?! Ritsu was here? "It won't be long now."

Be careful Ritsu.

 **RITSU**

"Some tech friend you have." I growled in irritation as I threw a knife towards Gus. He ducked and it hit the guard behind him in the head.

"Not my fault the S.E.A. just had to upgrade." Gus replied, shooting two in the head. "No more element of surprise."

"You think?" I barely missed the bullet that was aimed at my head. We had to deal with these guys quickly.

"I got this." Gus pushed me out of the way and threw something from his pockets. The men that were running towards us with their guns found themselves face first on the ground. Looking more closely I saw buttons. "What did I say about the buttons?"

Gus shrugged, shooting someone without looking. "I didn't bring the whole jar." Chuckling, I turned in time to slice someone's neck. "We aren't getting anywhere with this." Multiple bodies were on the floor and I could hear footsteps of more.

"Alright Oda, time to split up for real this time." He pushed me the way I needed. "Go save Mr. Takano."

I smiled, "Go stop S.E.A." He chuckled and nodded. I started running after that. A handful of guards coming my way. **No one is going to stop me from getting to Takano.** I used the walls to dodge the bullets, doing a back flip over the rest.

It was like I was flying. There was no thoughts in my mind as I killed each one. My body just moved on its own. Was this how it was before? No. Before I had no purpose. My body before was the product of a mindless killer. Everything was clear now, no electric shocks in the way, and I had a purpose now. Takano was my purpose, just as he gave me life in high school and then again a year ago. I was nothing without him.

And I will kill anyone who tries to ruin that.

But there were too many to kill. Thinking of something else, I glanced up to see the ventilation system and before anymore guards could come down I jumped in. Gunshots echoed through the metal tubes but they did not worry me. Gus was more than capable to take them all on.

I felt as if I was crawling through these stupid vents for hours even though according to my watch it has only been 15 minutes. **Where are you Takano?** On cue, I looked down through an open vent and gasped. **Takano.**

He was tied up to one of the many columns that surrounded the room. I sighed with relief. He did not look hurt, physically, but I grew worried when I could not see Li. He had to be in there; he knew I would come.

 **Li.** Gripping my knife, I broke the vent and jumped into the room.


	23. Chapter 16: Ritsu vs Li

Landing feet first, I looked up to first see Takano looking at me with wide eyes. "Takano." He tried to say something but there was a piece of cloth wrapped around his mouth. I took a step towards him when I sensed someone behind me. Swinging my knife I was met with Li's face, his own knife hitting mine. "Hey Oda, I wonder when you were going to get here."

"Li." I pushed him away and threw my knife. He easily dodged it. "Woah Oda! Your aim is getting sloppy. It's almost like you do not want to kill me." Somehow I felt that was not a jab at me.

"Let Takano go."

"In our business just how many people were actually 'let go' Oda?" I glared at him. **He really was planning to kill Takano**. "To be honest I could care less about him but your father thought that taking something special to you would be useful persuasion."

"Persuasion?"

He took a step closer to me. "Your father didn't tell you? He announced his retirement the other day. He planned it weeks before and wanted you to take over. But he also said you would refuse if he asked so it was my mission to get you to come back."

"Is that why you popped back into my life?"

"We were the closest. They thought about bringing Gus but I told them he would make things worse. He would push you further away from the company." He looked to Takano. "But you proved to be one tought cookie. To think I had to resort to kidnapping."

I scoffed, "Kidnapping Takano is horrible persuasion. He's not that important." I tried to act, feeling guilty when I saw hurt flash through Takano's eyes. **It's only to save you.**

Li started laughing. "Man Oda, you know how to tell a lie." **What?** "It was not Takano I kidnapped, or rather, I kidnapped Saga."

SHIT! My eyes were wide as I froze.

He knew. The same man who watched me go through everything because I remembered Saga. I watched him walk over and take the cloth away from Takano's mouth. "Don't listen to him Ritsu. Whatever he says do not listen!" He wasted no time in speaking.

"Shut up before I cover your mouth again." Li growled before smiling to me. "It must have been hard being around this guy. A constant reminder of all the pain you went through. Don't you remember life without him? How much easier it was? You can still have that. As assassins, when something is a problem we simply cut it out of our lives. Saga is a problem Oda," He held out his knife to me. "Cut him."

I could have laughed. Li still had some hope that I would return to the old me even after all this time. Just why did he want me to come back? Sure I know my dad gave him this mission but Li is really putting in some effort. Looking back at the knife, I reached up to touch it but quickly dropped my hand. I could not even grab it so he would be one less weapon down. "Oda?" He started frowning.

"You have some nerve." I let out a small snicker. "I'm pretty sure my attitude towards everything should be a clear rejection."

"Yes but Saga…" "Saga was a problem only because I made him one. There was a lot of misunderstandings in our situation and I let that fuel my life in S.E.A. I still lived in fear of the S.E.A. but no more. I won't go back and you will let Takano go or else the next thing you will see is a knife in your throat." To show I was not kidding I opened my jacket, showing the six knives that were in the holders. Gus made it to replicate the exact one I had; easier to hold and grab weapons.

Takano looked with shock. Li just looked pissed off. "You really are messed up."

"I'm not the messed up one."

He charged at me, knives in both of his hands. I could hear Takano shouting my name each time I dodged one of his swings. Pulling one of my knives, I clashed with his. We were so close. I could feel his breath on my face. His eyes held so much anger but there was something else in there. Hurt? Disappointment? "You could be great."

"I don't want to be great." I pushed him away, swinging my knife. A small line of red appeared on Li's cheek. "It sucks when you fight someone who knows your every move." I forgot Li had a thing about talking during his fights. "Can't kill them so quickly."

I did not reply. To be honest, I was not really trying to kill him. I wanted to save Takano but as much crap as he put me through, Li was someone I considered a friend, not a good one but we have been through too much to ignore. **Why couldn't Li realize this is wrong?** I went to throw one at him when we heard a loud explosion from the other side. **What is Gus doing?**

"What the fuck was that?" Li looked at me. "Did you bring someone else?"

"As if."

Li narrowed his eyes as another explosion went off. "Now I know you are lying. If it is that stupid British kid then I can't wait to go kill him." As he was looking away I moved closer to Takano. If I could get him untied that would be the first step to saving him. Li noticed. "I'm not done yet Oda."

I gasped as he threw a knife in Takano's direction. I quickly threw my knife, colliding with his and sending them to the ground, when I found myself on my back with Li hovering over me. A knife to my throat.

"RITSU!"


	24. Chapter 17: Li's Problem

I glared up at Li. Was he going to kill me now? He smirked. "Doesn't this bring back memories? You always found your way under me." No. I glanced at Takano to see hurt in his eyes. "I already told him Oda. He knows _everything._ " My eyes went wide. "Not a whole lot of detail but I think I got my point across. That his so called innocent Oda was actually a slut in his time of absence."

 **Takano knew everything.** It barely could register in his mind. All the dirty things that happened with Li he knew. Surely he hated me. Of course he hated me. I was disgusting. "You look distressed Oda." My eyes were glued to Li's face, too scared to look back at the shame in Takano's eyes. "I feel bad for you Oda. Having him as a constant reminder. Tell you what, I'll make you a deal. I will let Mr. Boss go only if you agree to come back to S.E.A. and take over for your father."

 **He would let Takano go?** "Ritsu don't listen to him." Takano yelled. **He would let Takano go.**

"You would leave him alone?"

"Ritsu!"

Li smiled. "You have my word. Anything of Takano Masamune would be erased and never brought up again. You can come back to the life you were born to have and he will continue to live his sad life."

"You don't want that Ritsu!"

"Come on Oda. What life could you possibly have with him? You are a killer, you are tainted. A civilian like him could never understand what we had to go through. Coming with me would be the right choice."

"Like hell it would be! Ritsu you are not a killer and you are not tainted."

"I killed people. Lots of people. I had sex with Li. I let him use my body whenever he wanted. I even craved it." I looked at him, feeling all sorts of guilt. "How can you say I am not those things?"

Takano's head came forward. "All I know is the 15 year old Ritsu who was kind and caring and the Ritsu who came to work for me. The hardworker who cared about others but was broken. I still see the same Ritsu even after hearing what you did. I don't care about any of it."

"Cheap talk Mr. Boss." Takano growled at Li. "You can got to hell for all I care. You really think Ritsu deserves to be drugged, attacked, and subjected to torture?"

"That was his own fault. He did not follow the rules."

"WILL BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" I screamed. I could not think with the two arguing and Li was starting to grow heavy on me. "I don't want to hear any of this. Just let Takano go."

"Then say you will come back to S.E.A."

"I would rather die than see Ritsu go back." I gasped. His eyes softened. "Ritsu, I love you and you _need_ to be with me, not at some society for assassins. They can't control you anymore. Please don't give into them."

"Takano." This really was the man I loved.

Growling made me turn back to Li and my hand shot up to grab his arm, the knife he was holding just inches away from my face. His whole body was shaking. Taking advantage, I got my legs free and kicked him off. He landed a few feet away. While I sat up, I found myself laughing. "I can't believe I was actually thinking about it." I looked to Takano. "Thanks. And I'm sorry you were brought into all of this."

He shrugged. "I was going to find out sooner or later."

"I told you I had issues."

"We can work through them. I love you."

I blushed. "Now's not the time for that." He chuckled. "Are you sure you were an assassin?"

"This is gross." I jumped up as Li walked over. "How could you? Don't you remember anything we were taught? Love is weakness, love is worthless, love will get you killed. How could you forget?"

"I could never forget that even if I tried. That phrase stayed in my head ever since I left. Even now it still haunts me. You've already seen what they did to make me forget. But I'm glad I did not forget. I'm glad I remembered all about Saga because it allows me to learn from it. Li, that rule is wrong. Love is not weakness, not worthless, and there are many other things that will get you killed. At least love would be a good reason. I'd rather be killed for love then killed on a stupid mission."

"What did he do to you Oda?"

"STOP CALLING ME ODA. God Li don't you get it? The S.E.A. is wrong."

"That is what we lived with since we were 15. This is our way of life."

"It's not mine."

"Not yet." Our knives met again. "I tried being nice to you Oda. I even offered let this guy go if you came back. I do not want to have to take you by force and make you attend therapy again but I will. If that is what it takes."

"Why are you so persistent? For a mission is one thing but you are putting yourself more into this than needed. Why? Why can't you leave me alone? Why can't you…" It was becoming clear now. The way he spoke, the way he was acting. It did not cross my mind as a possibility but I guess even Li was human. It just sounds so incredibly…weird. I almost did not want to say it out loud.

"Li, are you in love?"


	25. Chapter 18: Self Realization

That got him to stop. His arms came down and he gave me one of those are-you-serious looks. And then he laughed. "What crazy shit are you spouting out now Oda? Am I in love? As if."

"I'm just asking."

"Quit asking stupid questions. I am an assassin for the S.E.A."

We both turned when we heard laughter coming from Takano. "This is just how you looked for the past year Ritsu. Always denying that you did not love me." **This?**

"There's no denial Mr. Boss."

"Sure there isn't."

"SHUT UP." I took a step when he pointed the knife to Takano. "Oda I will kill him."

"Just calm down Li." I have never seen him this riled up.

He growled. "No. I want him dead! He destroyed everything for me, for us." The knife was now pointed at me. "I just want things to go back to the way they were before. When we had none of these worries."

"We can't go back Li."

"Why not?"

"Ritsu won't ever love you." Li threw the knife, hitting above Takano's head. "ENOUGH LI. Takano shut up for a minute" He was so not helping the situation. I quickly ran to stand in front of Takano in case he decided to throw another one.

"I. Don't. Want. His. Love." Li grinded his teeth together. "I already knew Oda did not love me. It was better that way. Oda followed the rules. Oda was perfect that way. Strong, with fierce eyes and cold mouth. I had never seen such a killer like him. I…I…"

I was in utter shock. I have seen Li vulnerable but not like this. All I felt was pity. "It's hard isn't it? They basically burned one simple rule into our heads that when we break it, it shakes our whole being. I felt that way every time I relapsed. I still feel it time to time but it's alright, it just reminds us that we are human." I dodged one of his knives. **Just how many did he have on him?**

"I can't be in love. That would be breaking the rules so it's impossible."

"I thought it was impossible for me to fall in love with the same boy from high school, but look where we are." Takano made a slight noise. "I love him. That's why I won't go back."

We looked at each other. I could not figure out what was going on his mind. Anger, hurt, fear, all flashed in his eyes before he made another face. I could tell what that face it was; it was a face I made many times before: self realization. "Li?" It startled me when he started laughing loudly, losing his balance, stumbling as he walked in a circle. "Li?" **He's really loosing it.** I took a cautionary step towards him. "Liang…"

"Be careful Ritsu." As if Takano's voice was a catalyst, Li stopped his laughing. His body began to shake. "Li." Before I could move Li already had his left arm around my neck. My mouth went wide open as the pain hit my shoulder. Glancing down he was holding a knife that was jabbed into my right side. The blood started pouring down my shirt and dripped on the ground.

"RITSU."

Li chuckled into my neck. "I could have killed you. If the knife was in my other hand, one clean stab to the heart would have ended it." I cried when he pulled the knife out, dropping his hand to his side. **Damn it hurt like a bitch.** "Is that love? Have I been the one breaking the rules this whole time?" I did not know what to say. Mostly because all my mind was registering was the pain. "I just want my Oda back."

I looked down at him, "I'm sorry Li, but that Oda is gone." He laughed again, his hand moving to grab my shoulder roughly. "You're right. My Oda might as well be dead." He pointed the knife back at me. "At that means there is no use in 'Ritsu' afterall."

It was all too quick. Everything was moving so slow and yet so fast. I felt my adrenaline pumping through my veins. The knife was coming towards me, aiming for my neck. Reaching in my coat, I grabbed hold of one of my knives, my favorite knife, and made contact with his wrist, leaving a deep cut that immediately started bleeding out. He yelped at the pain and as he was distracted, I struck him again, plunging my knife into his chest.

It was silent. He looked at me with shocked eyes and mine could have been the same size. He coughed once, blood trickling down his cheek. I pulled my knife out, dropping it so I could catch him as he started to fall. "This really hurts." He coughed.

"Li." I laid him gently onto the floor and knelt by him. His breathing grew quicker and one hand reached up to grab mine. "You know…what your problem…is…Oda..Ritsu..." He smiled. "You care too much…about people...who…don't…deserve it…makes you a terrible assassin." He tried to laugh but it came out as a cry of pain.

"Stop talking Li." More blood came out of his mouth. I wanted to do something, anything, but the wound I inflicted was a kill shot. Li was going to die and it was because of me.

"Even now…you still…care about me…you still…think I'm…human…"

"It's okay Li. Don't talk anymore."

The hand on mine started to loosen. "I guess that's why I always did…love…you." His chest stopped moving, hand falling to the ground.

I have seen many dead bodies. Some with simple wounds, others mangled up messes. Most I killed. But this would be the worse of them all. I did not cry but I felt a deep pain in my chest. When I finally moved it was to reach over and close Li's lifeless eyes. **I'm sorry Liang.**

"Ritsu." **Takano!** I ran over to kneel down in front of him. Taking a knife, I cut the ropes off him. When he was free He launched himself at me. "Tak…OUCH!" I forgot I had a knife wound in the shoulder.

"Sorry." He pulled to looked at my wound. "Are you alright?" I tore off a piece of my undershirt to wrap around the wound. Takano helped tie it. "We have to get you to a hospital." He went to get up but I grabbed his hand. "Ritsu?"

"I love you." I said without thinking. "I love you."

He knelt back down and grabbed my face. "I love you too. Thank you for coming for me."

"I didn't want to lose you." I glanced at Li. "Not you too."

Takano sighed, kissing my cheek. "I know it was hard, I'm sorry you had to do it. But I love you so much. We will get through this together Ritsu. I am not leaving." Takano was everything to me but he was wrong. _We_ cannot get through this together. Killing Li made me realize that as long as S.E.A. was around, anyone close to me would get hurt. Li was being used by them. For all I knew they probably wanted me to kill him. **Takano would not end the same way.**


	26. Chapter 19: Not Goodbye, See You Later

"Ritsu, we should go." Takano grabbed my hand to help me up. I could bare with the pain but it was still uncomfortable. I felt Takano's hand go around my waist. "We still have work tomorrow." I laughed at his joke.

"FREEZE." The door was busted open as a handful of men came running in with their guns pointed at us. I moved Takano behind me and took out a knife. **Now what?** "Stand down men!" I heard him speak and then Gus came from behind two tall men. "ODA!" He ran up and hugged me. "OUCH!" Wounded shoulder. Wounded shoulder.

Gus laughed, pulling away. "Sorry, sorry." He looked to Takano. "Hi Mr. Takano, good to see you in one piece."

"Thanks Gus." He looked around when he saw Li on the ground. When he turned back his smile was sad. "Good job Oda."

I nodded, looking at the men. "Gus? Who are they?"

He looked back. "Oh, they are part of Ghost, the organization I am part of."

"Ghost is what it's called?" After all these years he never told me the name.

"Mhm, you never asked before so I did not tell you."

 **Cheeky Bastard.** "Whatever…so what are they doing here?"

"I told you we have been trying to take down this warehouse. I informed them of our mission here and they sent me back up. After I blew up the cargo shipment they moved in to take the rest of the facility. Now that we have it, taking down the Tokyo branch will be easy."

"Thanks to you and your friend Gus." We all turned as the group of men moved aside for a man in black. He looked American, with blue eyes and blonde hair. He walked over and held out his hand to me. I shook it. "Hello there, code name Axel, head of the spy group your dear Gus is part of."

"Axel was the one to track Takano in the first place. He's really good with getting information."

"I even looked you up Oda. You've been a busy boy." He looked at Takano. "It's messy when civilians get involved in such activities. I extend my apologies Takano Masamune."

"It was eventful I will say that." The two laughed. "Alright, clean it up. I want this place wrapped down before S.E.A. can send men to investigate." I took a step to Takano when I felt lightheaded. "Damn, lost too much blood."

"Gus, get Mr. Takano home and Oda into the chopper."

"Wait, what?" Takano grabbed my arm. "What are you going to do with Ritsu?"

"Well unless you want him to die of blood loss he will be taken to our doctors to get fixed up." Axel motioned with his fingers for the other men to leave. "After that we will need to take him into custody."

Takano glared, "Why? He's done nothing wrong? He quit that stupid place years ago. Just leave him alone."

"It's alright." I put my hand on his shoulder. "Takano, it's alright." Taking a deep breath, I turned to Axel. "I want to make a deal."

"Oda?" Gus cocked his head. Axel looked intrigued. "What deal?"

"I want to help you take down S.E.A." Gus gasped, Takano tried to grab at me again but I shook him off.

Axel smirked, "And what makes you think we would bring you in just like that? What can you possibly offer us that would make you valuable?"

He was going to piss me off. "You already know my father plans to retire. The Onodera name is basically royalty in S.E.A. This whole thing was to persuade me to take over for him. Having a Head as an ally would be useful to taking down S.E.A." Axel and I stared at each other for a moment when Gus laughed.

"You are the best Ritsu." He walked over to Axel. "He's right. Just imagine all the intel we will get if we have a Head on our side. We could take down the Tokyo branch and the Beijing much easier."

"This warehouse was through my father's publishing company. I know he does business in Beijing through that and I can find the other warehouses and even the names of all assassins. I didn't just kill people when I worked there."

Axel started chuckling, nodding his head. "Alright then."

"Really?"

"Truth is I was trying to bring you over to us since Gus explained you were his source two years ago. Gus kept rejecting the idea." Gus smiled. "Just looking out for my brother."

"Yeah." Sometimes I loved my brother. "You said you wanted to make a deal. What did you want out of it?"

I pointed to Takano. "I cannot be sure that the S.E.A. will leave Takano alone after all of this. He has no part in this and when I leave I want to know he will be safe."

"Leave?"

"Consider it done. We will depart in 15 minutes. Gustavo, see to it that Mr. Takano is taken home and you and Ritsu are in the chopper."

"Yes sir." Axel headed out then. Gus turned to the two and started walking to the door himself. "I'll give you some alone time." He exited, leaving me and Takano finally alone.

Takano pulled me to him. "Ritsu you can't go back. We can leave, move somewhere far away where no one can find us. Just the two of us."

I smiled. "That sounds great but running won't solve anything. I've been running away for three years now."

"Let Gus get it done. He can handle it."

"It took five years to take down one branch because of Gus. If I can become on of the members in charge, I could take everything down in only one."

"And if you're caught? What if they find out about what happened here? How will you get out of that?"

I looked at Li. "The only one who could truly rat me out is dead. Otherwise I'll just wing it." Takano looked even more disturbed. "I have to do this, for us. I can't be with you with a target on my back."

Takano's concern face was still on for a moment before he smiled, moving closer to me. "You said you loved me."

I blushed. He just had to bring it up now. "Yeah."

"Did you mean it?"

"Of course I did! I would not say that if I didn't. I am a man!"

He kissed me. "I love you."

"I love you too." The kiss we shared was full of passion. My one good arm went around is neck as his went around my waist. I wanted to stay like that forever. "Ten minutes Ritsu." Gus called.

I reluctantly pulled away from Takano, keeping my arm around him. "I don't know when I'll be back and we won't be in contact for awhile."

"How will you survive without me?"

Ignoring him, I placed my forehead on his chest. "Would you? Would you wait for me?"

He smiled, kissing me again. "It will be hard, missing you everyday, but I went ten years without you. I'll go another ten if it is what it takes for us to be together. Just this time promise you will come back."

"I promise." As I pulled away I stumbled. "We better get you some help."

"I got him." Gus came in and grabbed one arm as Takano grabbed the other. We made it outside where there was a helicopter and a car. A soldier came up. "I have instructions to take the civilian home." He gestured to Takano. Gus and Takano helped me into the helicopter where a woman was there with medical supplies. "Let's stop that bleeding." She took out some needles.

"Bye Mr. Takano." Gus waved. Takano smiled, not letting go of my hand. "I have to go."

"You better come back." He let go and the helicopter took off. Takano waved, growing smaller and smaller as we got higher up. "Don't worry," Axel shouted from the front. "Do this right, you'll be back in no time."

"I hope so." I had to do this. For society. For Li. For Takano.

For me.


	27. Chapter 20: I Get to Keep You

"KISA! WHERE IS MY MANUSCRIPT?"

"THE AUTHOR WON'T ANSWER HER PHONE."

"THEN YOU BETTER TELEPORT YOURSELF OVER THERE AND GRAB IT RIGHT NOW."

"THERE'S NO SUCH THING."

"GET ME MY MANUSCRIPT." With that Kisa went running out of the office. Hatori was just returning from grabbing his manuscript from his no good, can't make a deadline author and Mino was currently finishing up his work. A dark aura around him even with that smile. **God when will this day be over.**

"Takano, can I steal you for a second?" Isaka-san appeared. I really wanted to say no but I also would like to keep my job. "Sure." He took me down to the break room where no one was at. "What can I help you with?"

"I thought you might be interested to hear that Onodera Publications is going out of business." That was news. "Apparently Onodera-san was giving money to terrorist groups and stealing from the company. Pretty nasty business. If not for our Ritsu taking over six months ago it still would be going on. It said in the papers that he found the secret accounts and immediately turned them in."

I smiled. "What is going to happen now?"

"A huge lawsuit was filed against Onodera-san and his wife since most accounts were in her name. Nasty business, not only will they go through Japan's government but I guess America's government has been after them for this. I wouldn't worry about Ritsu though. No doubt he will get off free for providing all the information. As for the company, I am meeting with Ritsu next week to discuss him giving the rest of the stocks and bonds for the company to me."

I gasped, "Ritsu is coming here!?"

"You didn't know?"

"After he left…I didn't hear a lot from him. He was always busy."

Isaka-san looked at me weirdly but nodded. "Well, something else I wanted to say was that he voiced he would like to get his job back. I was going to say yes, considering he's about to make me rich, but I figured I should at least get your approval."

"I don't mind. It has seemed a bit strange without him." I tried not to sound too excited but my voice was a bit shaky. Isaka chuckled. "Alright then. Well, good luck with your deadlines." **Don't remind me.**

I can't believe it has already been nine months since Ritsu left with Gus. Three months later I saw Ritsu in a magazine, taking over the family business. I wanted to go down there or even call but I know Ritsu would not want that. He made it clear that there was no contact between us until he finished all of this. Hearing about this scandal gave me hope. Ritsu mentioned that Onodera Publication was used to connect that group's Tokyo section to the Beijing.

"Good work today." Hatori said weakly as everyone left. We finished the cycle but as usual everyone was dead tired. At least this meant we got a weekend off. I needed some good relaxation time. Before heading out I stopped in front of Ritsu's desk. It's been empty. Isaka would always ask if I wanted someone to replace him but I refused. This was Ritsu's desk and I wanted no one else sitting here.

It was chilly outside, makes sense since it was December. In three weeks it would be my birthday. It was gloomy to think that I would spend it alone. Yokozawa asked if I wanted to do anything but I refused. After spending my birthday with Ritsu last year I only wanted to see him. It sucked I had to miss his birthday. Just more of a reason to think about him, though I think about him everyday. What was he doing now? Was he safe? At least Isaka gave me information that said he was alive and apparently winning.

I took out Gus's letter on the subway, something I did almost everyday. He sent it to me four months ago without Ritsu knowing. It is what kept me going.

 _Dear Mr. Takano,_

 _I know I'm not supposed to have contact with you but I'm not one to follow the rules. ^_^_

 _I figured you would be worried about Ritsu. I know since you are all Ritsu thinks about over here (don't tell him I said that). Some good news is that everything is going great. You may have already heard of Ritsu taking over for his father's company and that means he also took over for S.E.A. We have been getting so much intel on the different companies funding the society and already shut more than half of them down. Ritsu being with us is a big help._

 _I am afraid I cannot say that Ritsu has been fine the entire time. He was haunted by killing Li. We all hated him but the he was closer than even me to Ritsu in the S.E.A. and Ritsu saw him as a friend. Not only that, Ritsu was put in electro-shock therapy for a month when he went back. Luckily he did not forget anything but it made him jumpy, irritated, and caused seizures that had to be regulated. The reason he did not take over until just two months ago was because Ritsu was unstable. He still is living with this deep fear of what they did to him._

 _You see, when someone wants to quit S.E.A. they are put through a month resignation. During this resignation they basically try to kill you and if you live, you get to go free. Ritsu had to go through this three years ago but what they did was different from usual. His father did not want burn or knife marks to be left on his body since he planned Ritsu to take over so they decided to do something different. They fed him poison in everything he ate and drank, and I mean everything. They pushed pills down his throat, and went back to electroshock therapy everyday for one hour, and submerged him in water twice a week. The worst part…they had men rape him once a week, a sort of spit in his face for being gay. Ritsu technically died a total of five times during that month, went into a coma for one week, and contracted at least three STD's, luckily none were HIV. I know Ritsu is still reliving it. I did not even know about this until a month ago. We got into a large fight since my superiors pushed him for more information and he almost killed himself for remembering. After that we were able to convince Ritsu to go to counseling. He suffers from severe PTSD that should have been taken care of three years ago, depression, and anxiety. The counselor says Ritsu should have committed suicide by now. She noted that this last year was the healthiest year Ritsu had ever lived in the past thirteen years. When she asked what he did, I told her about you. Ritsu may have fought you and denied having feelings but if not for your persistence and your love, Ritsu would be dead._

 _I wanted to thank you for that. My brother needed someone like you. You helped him in more ways than you can think of and I know Ritsu loves you for it. He is working hard and I know it won't be long before you can see him again. Just be patient a little longer._

 _That is all I can say now. I know there is a lot of bad but I hope this note will give you some type of sense into what Ritsu is going through to be with you._

 _He really does love you._

 _Gustavo_

When I first got the letter I ended up crying for a whole hour. It pained me to hear what Ritsu had gone through and is still going through. He deserved none of it. I still can imagine the 15 year old Ritsu and how his innocent self was shattered because of his horrible family. I still felt guilty for thinking bad about him for being privileged. Not having my parents around seemed better than this. I also felt guilt from him doing so much just to be with me. If he had to go through this pain I did not think I even I was worth it but then again happiness surged through my body, so much it could be oozing out of me. Ritsu truly loved me. There was also a sense of happiness when Gus said Ritsu was much better with me. Ritsu always belonged to me. I would love him and take care of him for the rest of my life. I would even move to America, there gay marriage is legal. We would really be a family then.

"But how much longer do I have to wait?" I sighed. The wait was the sucky part in this. No matter how much I tried to cheer myself up. That Ritsu was not gone forever.

Getting off the train I was greeted to the snow falling. It was pretty and I imagined walking down this with Ritsu when he got back. If he got back in time. At least if he came back in the spring we could see the cherry blossoms. **Ritsu come home.** Heading out of the elevator, I stopped when I saw a medium-sized box in front of my door. It had no name on it so out of curiosity I opened it, gasping at what was inside.

Books. About six books were stacked up inside. Literature books. I remembered seeing these books before, in Ritsu's apartment. Once I asked the landlord about his apartment to which she said that she cannot give out personal information but that it was for sale. **Why would Ritsu's stuff be here?** Picking up the box, I unlocked my door only to open it and see more boxes stacked up against the wall. Not only that, another set of black shoes. **Ritsu?**

I dropped the box, not bothering to take my shoes off, and ran into my living room. More boxes were in there. "Turns out they can kick you out if you don't pay rent for nine months." I heard his voice before I saw him. "Gus had all my stuff packed but they needed a place to take them."

I smiled, feeling happy that he chose to bring his stuff here. "We may have to throw some stuff out." I turned to see him, momentarily forgetting how to breathe. I saw him in pictures but seeing him in person was so much different. His hair was a little longer and the bangs were laid to the side so they were not in his face. He did not gain weight but he was not so scrawny anymore. His shoulders seemed slightly broader and I could see the muscles on his arms more defined. I think he also grew a few inches but was still shorter than me. I saved the eyes for last. Those wide, emerald eyes that by some crazy miracle, still held the same innocence and fierceness from before. They were so beautiful. He was actually smiling. "Unless we get a bigger place."

"I do have a house now." I wasted no time moving to him. My arms going around his body. His arms wrapped around mine, tightening. His scent was still the same, wonderful, and I found myself inhaling it. My eyes grew glassy I felt him wipe wet eyes on my neck. "I missed you."

"I promised I would be back."

"That you did." Having him here, in my arms, rubbing against me, woke my desires. I waited nine months, I was not going to wait any longer.

"Taka…Takano." He moaned as I licked the head of his cock before swallowing it again. My hands moved up to pinch his nipples, feeling the outline of the six pack that was barely showing. "Stop." All of his clothes were off while I still had my pants on.

"No." His shyness was not going to get in the way this time.

"I said…stop." With sudden force he pushed me off and turned us around so he could straddle me. All before I could blink. His face was blushing red as he caught his breath. "I told you to stop." He smirked. "I learned a few things myself."

I narrowed my eyes. "And just how did you learn these things?" He better not have done anything else with any other assassin. Ritsu must have noticed my mood because he rolled his eyes. "Not like that. I meant that I am a lot stronger. You can't always hold me down now." I smirked as he started unbuttoning my pants. **We'll see.** Ritsu sure got a lot more confident. This would be interesting.

My smugness disappeared quickly when he grabbed my cock, stroking it gently. "Ritsu." He looked up with his own smug look and took me in his mouth. It turned me on so much to see him going down on me. "Shit Ritsu." My head tossed back in pleasure. I needed him now.

I grabbed his shoulders and gently pulled him up to kiss him, turning us back over. "Please hurry." He begged. I looked for the lube when he stopped me, groaning loudly with impatience. "I need you Tak-Masamune." God I could have exploded right then. "I needed you for nine months. Please don't make me wait any longer."

I leaned forward and kissed him roughly, his lips swollen when I pulled away. "Never Ritsu. I'll never make you wait again." Lining myself up, I pushed into his entrance slowly, using all my will power not to pound him. **So hot.**

"Masamune...faster." Complying, I sped up my thrusts, listening to his moans grow louder. "Masamune."

"Ritsu."

Three hours later we were laying on my bed after one of the best sex I ever had with him. Our fluids was still all over our bodies but neither of us cared to clean it. Oh how I missed his body. The muscles he developed were a nice new touch. "My father is dead." He said out of nowhere. I was too shocked to say anything. "Two nights ago he committed suicide with cyanide. Since mother never had a huge involvement in S.E.A., she will be put in jail for up to 15 years for the accounts being in her name and knowing about it and then Ghost will have her on mandatory probation in another country with no contact with anyone in Tokyo."

"I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "They spent so much time trying to get me to do things their way that I never got to build a real relationship with either of them. I don't even want the Onodera name anymore."

"We can get it changed to Takano." He chuckled but I was serious. Takano Ritsu, I like the sound of that. "One thing at a time. I already sold half the company to An-chan's family and once I sell the rest I can quit Ghost. I gave them all the information regarding the Beijing branch and they are moving next month."

"Are there more branches?"

"Just one in the Middle East but that is a different division that has nothing to do with me. They already have someone working there so I am no longer useful to them."

"What does this mean?"

Ritsu sat up, the scar on his right shoulder was in my face that I started stroking it. It was my scar, the one he got from protecting me. "It means, I am officially retired from any government activity." If my heart stopped that one phrase would bring it back to life. I pressed him back into the bed, getting on top of him. "Takano."

"So I get to keep you right?"

"Keep me? I'm not some type of pet." He glared at me but his cheeks were turning red. "…but yeah, I'm here to stay." Smiling, I kissed him roughly, rubbing my erection against his. His moans were music to my ears. "Don't stop."

"Never."


	28. Chapter 21: My New Life

"Once you sign this all rights to the following property of Onodera Publication will be handed over to Marukawa," Isaka pushed the paper in front of me. "You sure you want to do this Onodera? Even with the scandal, most of these bonds have been untouched and can be used to start up another business."

I smiled. "I'm not really one to run a business. And I am using this as a sort of bribe for a job here." He chuckled as I grabbed the pen. "A great bribe. I am planning to get 2.5 million yen from this deal so I can allow you to work in any department but I figured you would want your old one in Emerald back."

"That was the plan." I signed the paper and gave it to him. In return he gave me a check. "Here is your check for 500,000 thousand." Hey, I was going to get some money out of this. "I feel almost bad for taking so much."

I looked at the check. "Trust me Isaka-san, you will be doing me a favor. I want nothing to do with that company after all that has happened."

"Understandable. I can get your reinstatement papers filed and you can start Monday morning. Takano will no doubt have a lot of work for you."

"Don't remind me." I was not looking forward to that. Takano has been telling me all week of the different assignments he plans to get ready for me. I placed the check in my bag and stood up as Isaka did. He held out his hand as I shook it. "As of now all of Onodera Publication belongs to Marukawa. It was a pleasure doing business with you."

"The same to you." Walking out of the office I was surprised to see Takano outside. "Takano?"

"Are you done?"

"Just finished. What about you?"

"Taking a quick lunch break. Kisa is no doubt slacking off so I should head back soon. Did he give you your old job back?"

"I can start Monday."

"Good. Mutou-sensei will be happy to hear you coming back. She has been asking about you."

"It will be good to get some normalcy in my life again." He chuckled. "I guess I will see you when you get home."

"Gus said he would be bringing Emily in a few weeks to meet you. She is really sweet and much calmer than him." I met her just last month. She reminded me of a doll and her cool demeanor contrasted with Gus's but I think that's what made them good together. She even started calling me her brother.

Takano nodded, "Sounds good." He walked me to the front entrance. "Enjoy this time off, it will be a long time before you get another one." There goes my good mood. I started pouting, making him laugh. "You'll be fine."

"I'll see you later then."

See ya." I headed out of the building, looking back to see him smiling at me. Outside felt different. I felt the coolness of the air and smiled when I saw the snow on the ground. It was the first time I felt at peace. No looking over my shoulder, no fear of being someone coming after me.

There was a time I thought I would never feel this way. When we first started, I thought I could adapt back into the system but I was wrong. I still felt guilty for trying to commit suicide in the beginning. I forgot about Takano and my promise to return to him. It was hard trying to get back on track but I finally did, with a lot of help, and I'm glad I did. I was able to bring down the Tokyo branch and Beijing would be over in the next month. My father, the coward, was no longer a problem and The Doctor was dead. I have yet to tell Takano about the week I spent torturing him two months ago before I killed him. It was almost scary how much I enjoyed electrocuting him.

I erased any files of me and since I was not in there by my full name and with no picture it would be hard for them to find me now. Not that they would try. With 'Onodera' out of the society and the Publication company gone there was no use wasting time looking for me.

When I got back to Takano's apartment, or I guess our apartment, I laid on the couch. I moved in with Takano since I decided to sell my parent's house. It was just another bad memory I wanted to get rid of. We did talk about moving somewhere else closer to work. We could afford really anything with the money I got.

"I'm home." Takano called out five hours later. The whole time I laid on the couch, taking a nap. If I tried doing anything I would mess up the perfectly clean apartment.

"Welcome back." Takano walked into the living but stopped near the hall, staring at me. "What is it?" He did not answer. Instead he walked over and knelt down in front of me, putting his head in my lap. His arms going around me. "Takano?"

"I'm just happy."

It made me smile. "Me too." This peaceful moment was what I craved. I could give myself to Takano without any fear. I know we still have challenges to face. I am still in counseling and have yet to tell Takano _everything_ about S.E.A. but I don't feel scared anymore to tell him. I know he loves me, truly loves me, and is not going anywhere.

"I feel like ordering in." He stood up, kissing my forehead before heading to the kitchen. "We can order from that one sushi place downtown. I have a menu hear somewhere." I think my smile grew since he mentioned the sushi place I once voiced I wanted to try.

Still sitting, I watched him dial the number and starting putting in our order, staring at the menu in front. It reminded me when he noted that we acted like newlyweds. Of course I fought him back but now I can say I feel the same way. No more fighting. No more denying what I wanted.

Getting up, Takano had just hung up the phone when I wrapped my arms around him. "Ritsu?" I did not reply. My nose was buried into his side as I hummed in pleasure from the warmth. We did not move for a few minutes until he sighed and twisted his body so he could get his arms around me. "Is everything alright?"

I nodded, smiling up at him. "I love you." It comes out so naturally now.

He smiled back. "I love you too."

The last ten years were horrific. So much pain, violence, spilt blood, all hung over my head. I killed my friend, lost my parents, and almost lost my life. But I do not regret anything. Even through all that, someone must have thought I deserved better because here I was in the love of my life's arms. I lost so much but I would give up more to stay like this forever. He startled me when he lifted me up bridal style. "Takano?"

His eyes were filled with lust. "I thought I could wait until later but you just had to be so adorable." We headed for our room.

"Men aren't adorable! And can't you think of something else other than sex?" I let out a puff of frustrated air.

He chuckled. "Nope."

"What about the food."

"We got 45 minutes. How about we see how many times I can make you cum."

"TAKANO!" My face heated up but all he did was laugh some more and kiss my neck. Ignoring my protests, we made it into the room where he continued to ravish me.

I loved it.

 **THE END**

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 **Thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed this story. Also thank you for reviewing and I wish I could see them all but my account likes to go weird on me and I haven't been able to see any posted reviews the last week. Great right? Anywhoo ttfn..TATA FOR NOW!**


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